The Hidee Mine is one of the easier underground gold mine tours to do since you walk right into a flat, dry tunnel. It’s also very easy to get to from the Denver area. It’s on the Central City Parkway between I-70 and Central City. If you’ve been to Central City to gamble or see other historic gold mining community sights, this is an easy add-on. This mine is quite historic itself, it was patented in 1896 and operated intermittently into the modern era. You can read more about the mine history on the Hidee website at http://www.hideegoldmine.com/menu_aboutus/aboutus.htm
In the mine you’ll get to see some displays on old/new mining techniques and the 6 foot wide vein of pyritic sulphide ore.
Tours are led by real miners who have worked in this mine and others. Here’s a good video news feature on the mine: https://youtu.be/iF7msxTa2z0
(Content copyright of original creator.)
In addition to the mine tour, there is a picnic area, hiking trails to a couple of nearby historic mines. Those other mines include the Pittsburg which was one of the area’s biggest producers and ran intermittently all the way into the 1970’s.
Want to learn to pan? These folks will teach you as part of a tour at panning tubs they have set up near the mine entrance. Just don’t expect pure gold in your pan. Instead you’ll find the pyrite ore which comes out of the mine. It’s pretty cool stuff and does continue a small percentage of gold in it. Like most hard rock ores, it runs 0.2-10% gold.
If you want to shop, there is also a small gift shop on site with mineral specimens, copies of my guide book (Finding Gold in Colorado: Prospector’s Edition) and a few gold pans.
For more info including current schedules or to book a visit, check out their website at http://www.hideegoldmine.com/
Interesting side note for us gold prospectors: The mine manager told me they would go back to actively mining the ore here if gold prices climb high enough. The ore has to be shipped a long way to a facility that can successfully get the gold out economically so both shipping costs and processing costs currently make active mining uneconomic. The gold will wait!
All Photo Credits: The Hidee Mine or the author
Interested in other mine tours near here? Check out the Phoenix Mine just west of Idaho Springs: https://findinggoldincolorado.com/gold-tourism-the-phoenix-mine-tour/
Where else have you been to see our gold mining history? Let me know what you wish I’d research, visit, and write about in the comments 🙂
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