June 22, 2026

To Idaho Springs

We’ve seen this sign often in Colorado. And this morning we passed three Elk munching away next to a busy intersection in Estes Park.

Today we said good bye to Estes Park and picked up the Peak to Peak Scenic Highway from Estes to Black Hawk, CO. It’s a 55 mile route established in 1918 that gives up close views of the Continental Divide along the Front (eastern) Range. In layman’s terms, we took CO 7 south out of Estes Park and picked up CO 72 which took us to Boulder. From there the Peak To Peak continued with CO 119 to Black Hawk. From there it was a short sprint into Idaho Springs and our lodgings at the Columbine Inn, a privately owned motel.

We road two roads that followed creeks through canyons cut by water. Beautiful. Twisty. Relaxing.

Across the street is the old Argo Gold Mine and Mill,. Established in the early 1800’s it became a major processing center for the gold rush years. It has since closed as a mining operation, but welcomes tourists to try their hands at panning for gold flakes and nuggets.

We stopped for lunch in Nederland, CO, a place where we stopped on our trip in 2023. At that time we may or may not have visited the establishment pictured above. We aren’t commenting.

We rode for a little over 3 hours today and covered only about 110 miles. It was a fun ride indeed! At the same time, we find we’re starting to run low on energy at the end of the day. So we’ve made a decision to be a bit more willing to take rest days in preparation for the epic rides that are still ahead. It feels a little wimpy to admit this, even though we’ve logged more than 4,000 miles so far. Maybe realism has a place after all.

Hope you have a good night, and thanks for checking in!

Be well!