• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Uncover Colorado Logo

  • Blog
  • Activities
  • Events
  • Towns
  • Lodging
  • Dining
  • Transport
  • Made in CO
  • Search
  • Blog
  • Activities
  • Events
  • Towns
  • Lodging
  • Dining
  • Transport
  • Made in CO
  • Search
Gold Belt Tour Shelf Road Colorado
Shelf Road between Cañon City and Cripple Creek. Photo: David

Gold Belt Tour Byway – Florissant-Florence

25
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

The Gold Belt Tour is a jaw-dropping 131-mile drive through Colorado’s former mining country. It retraces the supply routes between the Front Range’s biggest gold camps.

In 2000 the Gold Belt Tour was declared a National Scenic Byway. You can reach it easily by heading west from Colorado Springs or Pueblo.

It loops from Florissant to Florence, passing through Cripple Creek, Victor and Cañon City, as well as by countless landmarks and relics. The thrilling drive gets narrow in places, but 2WD should be fine, just take it slow. One optional part, Shelf Road, has a section that hangs 200 feet down above the valley floor.

Florissant CO Gold Belt Tour Map
Gold Belt Tour map in Florissant.

Landmarks along Gold Belt Tour

There are a lot of historic sights to see, aside from mining ruins and relics. The following are a mix of natural and manmade landmarks that you’ll pass along the Gold Belt Tour Byway.

Florissant Fossil Beds – Discover petrified redwood up to 14 feet wide and thousands of plant and insect fossils.

Garden Park Dinosaur Fossil Area – Two-legged, plant-eating dinosaur fossils, dinosaur eggs, and dinosaur tracks have been discovered here.

Royal Gorge Bridge – It’s a steep, narrow canyon with a depth of 1250 feet in places.

Details

Nearby Towns:

  • Cañon City
  • Cripple Creek
  • Florence
  • Florissant
  • Victor

Season: Year Round

Length: 131 miles, 5 hours

Roads: 2WD, Free

Map: Gold Belt Tour (.png)

Website: codot.gov/…

Primary Sidebar

Join our Colorado travel community

Enter your email below and grab our free locals' guide and monthly what's up designed to help you live your Colorado life and uncover fun things to do. —and never miss out again.

Colorado Scenic Drives

  • All Scenic Drives
  • Alpine Loop
  • Cache La Poudre-North Park
  • Collegiate Peaks
  • Colorado River Headwaters
  • Dinosaur Diamond
  • Flat Tops Trail
  • Frontier Pathways
  • Gold Belt Tour
  • Grand Mesa
  • Guanella Pass
  • Highway Of Legends
  • Lariat Loop
  • Los Caminos Antiguos
  • Mount Evans Byway
  • Pawnee Pioneer Trails
  • Peak to Peak
  • Pikes Peak Highway
  • San Juan Skyway
  • Santa Fe Trail
  • Silver Thread
  • South Platte River Trail
  • Top of the Rockies
  • Trail of Ancients
  • Trail Ridge Road
  • Unaweep Tabeguache
  • West Elk Loop

Footer

Get In Touch

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Write For Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Resources
Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter

Disclosure: Uncover Colorado is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Things To Do

  • Travel Blog
  • Colorado Activities
  • Colorado Events
  • Colorado Towns
  • Colorado Hotels
  • Colorado Restaurants
  • Colorado Transportation
  • Made in Colorado

Visit Mile High Happy Hour for Denver neighborhoods' restaurant happy hours.

Winter Activities

  • Camping
  • Cross Country Skiing
  • Federal Lands
  • Hot Springs
  • Ice Skating
  • Skiing and Snowboarding
  • Snow Tubing
  • State Parks

Vacation like a VIP! Leisurely Lifestyle shares life and travel hacks, as well as cheap luxury travel.

Copyright © 2021 · Uncover Colorado - Vacations, Travel & Tourism | Sitemap | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer