Georgetown

Georgetown is a pretty village of Victorian-era houses and stores. Located 45 miles west of Denver at exit 228 on I-70, and at an elevation of 8,500 feet (2,591 meters), Georgetown was originally an 1860s gold camp, but the town boomed more in the 1870s with silver. This is the best-preserved of the many mining towns near Denver, as it is one of the few that didn't suffer a major fire. Perhaps to acknowledge their good fortune, townspeople built eye-catching steeples on top of their firehouses, not their churches.

A walking tour of Georgetown is interesting for its many well-preserved Victorian buildings, notably the Hamill House (built in 1867) and the Hotel de Paris (opened in 1875). The Hamill House was owned by William Hamill, a silver speculator, and it was the town's most ambitious residence. Now owned by the Georgetown Historical Society, call 303-569-2840 for current information on tour dates and prices.

The Hotel de Paris was built by Louis Dupuy, and was immediately famous for its French provincial luxuriousness. Today the hotel is a museum run by the National Society of Colonial Dames of America, whose members serve tea and coffee in the courtyard daily in warm weather (but probably not in November). The hotel still has many of its original furnishings: Haviland china, diamond-dust mirrors, a large pendulum clock, paintings and etchings from the past century, carved walnut furniture, and Dupuy's considerable library. Check the Hotel de Paris Web site for latest information on tour dates and prices.

Georgetown is also the beginning of the road over Guanella Pass, a trip worth taking for its spectacular views of Mount Bierstadt, Mount Evans and the Sawtooth Ridge that connects them. Guanella Pass is paved part of the way, but it becomes a dirt road near its highest elevation of 11,668 feet (3,556 meters). You are likely to see herds of elk, and perhaps of bighorn sheep or mountain goats, as well as flocks of white-tailed Ptarmigan, in the area of the dirt road. (There is a very controversial proposal to pave this road in its entirety, being fought vigorously by people who live on Guanella Pass on the grounds of its destructive potential to the wildlife in the area.) Although this road continues over to Grant on highway 285, I recommend that you turn around at a convenient point and retrace your route back to Georgetown, as getting back to Keystone from highway 285 by any other route is a long trip.