Riding The Leadville Colorado & Southern Scenic Train

Colorado has an extremely rich history of miners coming west in search of gold and other wealth hidding inside the mineral-dense mountain ranges. One of the extremely successful towns during this mining boom was Leadville, a town aptly named for the resource it holds.

When my mom came to visit me in the Fall of 2020, I decided to take her to this quaint town to show her some of Colorado’s best features including the Leadville Railroad & Southern Train!

You can read about all we did during this girls weekend HERE in this separate blog post!

​The Leadville Train used to bring miners and their goods up and down Prospect Mountain, so I knew this ride would not only be scenic but educational too! Before we even arrived in Leadville, I reserved our seats on the Monday afternoon train through their website. ​

Our cute Airbnb in Leadville.

​The night before the ride, we stayed within walking distance to the train stop at the Happy Hippie Tie Dyed House. We arrived at the platform about an hour before departure and, surprisingly, had to get in line! It seemed like everyone had the same idea as us to secure a good seat!

We got there in plenty of time to buy some gifts from the gift shop, and fortunately, one of the workers informed us that it can sometimes be up to 20 degrees colder on the train. We bought a blanket just in case, and we ended up using it for most of the ride!

​Finally, it was time for us to board the train. We quickly dashed to an open-air car and grabbed the first open row of seats. It wasn’t long until the train blew its whistle, and we were rolling down the tracks into the national forest! ​​

As soon as we started moving, awoman came over the P.A. system and started giving us a lovely audio tour. For the entire 90 minutes up the mountain, she never stopped telling us wild stories about the train and giving historical facts about the town of Leadville.​It was extremely entertaining, and my mom was blown away by some of the info!

​For instance, we had no idea that Leadville was almost Colorado’s capital. It only lost the vote by TWO votes!

Watch more from our amazing afternoon ride in my YouTube video HERE!

The tour guide would also point out things along the tracks and places we were passing. She showed us the cliffs where the tracks only sit feet away from the edge, and she told us to prepare our cameras when the train was about to make sharp turns and give us great views of the majestic mountains. ​

One of the old water towers that would help feed and power the mines.

​She also told us all about this historic relics - including water tower - and on the way back down the mountain, we got to stop, hop off, and walk all around. It was a really nice surprise!

Selfie off the train when we stopped to walk around!

​We eventually walked around the entire train and checked out every car. We agreed we had picked the best spot because some cars had roofs, some had windows, and some were reserved and saved for large parties - we had several chairs to ourselves and were near the engine so we had lots of room to get up and walk around!

One of the closed off train cars.

This train car didn't have seats!

The snack/drink car!

We had to stand up to get the better views down into the valley.

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​One major thing we wish we had known was that the side we chose wasn’t the best viewing side. If you find yourself boarding the train, choose a seat on the opposite side of the gift shop and train station. In other words, pick a seat on the church’s side facing Mount Elbert and Mount Massive. ​

The ride down was more relaxing, since we had just come up the same tracks. We were able to just sit, enjoy some snacks, and snuggle in our recently purchased blanket.

​The entire train ride featured spectacular views, and we had timed our ride almost perfectly with the Fall leaves. We were there for the last weekend in September, and the peak of colorful leaves had to have been three or four days earlier. The fallen leaves actually gave us a more clear view of the surrounding mountains, so we liked it for that reason!

Selfie with the tour guide!

The guide didn’t talk on the way down, so we didn’t have anything to listen to except the wind whipping around us. It was so enjoyable to just cruise through the woods. She eventually came around to talk to every party and see how we had enjoyed the ride. We snapped a selfie and thanked her for all she had shared with us.

Sadly, we had soon returned to the station, and our ride was over. We both hopped off the train raving about how much fun we had just had. The weather couldn’t have been prettier, and we took the ride during one of Colorado’s most beautiful seasons. It was the most picture-perfect ending to our Mom and Daughter road trip!

You can read more about everything we did together for her birthday weekend road trip by checking out this separate blog post! ​

​Similar Links:
Staying in Leadville at The Happy Hippie Tie Die House
Hiking Through The Fall Leaves at Kenosha Pass
Soaking In Mount Princeton Hot Spring in Buena Vista, Colorado