I decided to use a timeshare week in Breckenridge this year
coinciding with Breckenridge’s Oktoberfest and usually good hiking conditions
in the mountains around the time in September when the aspens are changing
color . Like most people heading to the mountains, I usually zoom up on I-70 without
giving much thought to what lies on the near side of the tunnel. One of the
towns along the highway I always bypass or use only as a place to fuel up is
Georgetown, an old silver mining town whose heyday was in the late 1800s.
Georgetown lies in Clear Creek’s rather narrow steep sided canyon and seems to
be in the shadow of the peaks for all but a few hours a day in winter. It’s
also on the wrong side of the Continental Divide to receive copious amounts of
snow to capitalize on for skiing, so it’s kind of ignored as a destination.

I’ve passed through town a number of times to take the
Guanella Pass road and knew there are some historic buildings in Georgetown, so
I thought I’d stop and spend a few hours checking the town out on my way to
Breckenridge where I’d be spending the week. Georgetown actually is very
pleasant and worth a stop for a few hours to wander around or have dinner
(something to keep in mind if traffic is bad on the way back from skiing). Together
with Silver Plume a few miles uphill towards the Continental Divide it makes up
a large national historic district, one connected by the narrow-gauge
Georgetown Loop Railroad.