He's got a car, and a road map, and a tankful of gas. And once again, Bill Clarke is looking for places you can go this summer.

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See Bill's One Tank Trip To Leadville

This one tank trip takes you to the land of the Tabors and the unsinkable Molly Brown. It's the land of Leadville.

Leadville is almost 2 miles above sea level and home to the highest airport in the country. The Mount Massive Golf Course is also the highest.

Leadville is the last of the Colorado mountain mining towns not spoiled by limited stakes gambling and undisturbed by jet setters from the east and west coasts. First silver and then gold helped make Leadville the second largest city in Colorado for a while. Back then the place was booming. There were carriages and fine horses up and down Harrison Avenue and there was an opera house that brought world class performers to the mountain town.

Horace Tabor built the opera house with mining money. So how much was he making at the time? The little Pittsburgh mine was producing about $10,000 a day.

His affair, and later marriage to the woman called Baby Doe, which is tame by today's standards, scandalized the nation.

The Healey House is a tribute to Leadville's gilded age and on stage here every week, Mary Jane Bradbury has a one-woman show, playing Baby Doe, Tabor's first wife, Augusta, and the unsinkable Molly Brown.

At Leadville's National Mining Museum, the people who actually produced Tabor's wealth are some of the stars. It was miners like that who did the work for a few dollars a day while he was taking out thousands a day. The work was deep, dark, dirty and dangerous.

Long after the gold and silver ran out, the Climax Mine near Leadville became a source of molybdenum, an element used to harden steel.

When the molybdenum mine above town closed, local investors bought the railroad line and today the Leadville Colorado and Southern routes live again.

The train runs twice a day through Labor Day. It's a two-and-a-half hour trip that covers about 14 miles, and you end up with a view of Fremont Pass.

Maybe today the richest thing to come out of Leadville is the fudge from Handley's Fudge Store. The 4,000 square feet of store produces 31 varieties of fudge.

A one-tank trip to Leadville is a trip back into some of Colorado's proud and occasionally bawdy past.

Bill's Travel Notes

You can be in Leadville in less than two hours via I-70 and over Fremont Pass on Colorado 91. Your drive past the Climax Moly… Molyb ... Molybd ... Mmmmm ... Molybdenum Mine (Thank you, Baby Doe) is an added bonus.

The Tennessee Pass Cafe in downtown Leadville was a great place for lunch. Friendly mix of locals and visitors made it worth the extra time we took just to talk to people. Oh, and if it's on the menu, try the buffalo meat loaf melt.

Hunley's Candy Store and Gift Shop will drive you crazy -- but in a good way. The folks there make 31 different varieties of fudge and have it out on display along an 8-foot stretch of counter space. The store itself is 4,000 square feet and is a treat just to walk through.

The Delaware Hotel pays great regard to Colorado's historic past and if you don't get immersed in the past when you're walking through the lobby, you're missing something big. The rooms have been lovingly restored but on select weekends during the summer when there are big events in town, space may be limited or not available. Check first.

As a museum geek, I was fascinated by the National Mining Museum and could have spent hours there. Walking through a replica of a hard rock gold mine, seeing what early coal miners had to deal with, and the incredible dioramas that depict the history of Colorado gold mining ... I was in hog heaven going through it all. Maybe you're not as into this kind of history as I am, but the museum is still a "must."

And finally, the Leadville Colorado and Southern Railroad. The owners bought it from the Burlington Northern for $10 when the Climax Mine closed down. The 14 miles of line and the rolling stock they bought are great for a mountain adventure.

You can get the whole lowdown on what's doin' in Leadville by going to LeadvilleUSA.com. Also, check out ArkansasValleyLiving.com.

Tell 'em you heard about it on our One Tank Trip Report.

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