Golden Area Attractions

Take a look! Golden has TEN - count them - ten museums, a record for a town of 7.9 square miles with 17 thousand people. Covering an entire museum spectrum, they include history, geology, fossils, art, railroads, quilts, living History Park, and mountaineering. There are also four gallery/shops featuring southwestern and western paintings, sculpture, and pottery with traditional and contemporary themes. Take your pick - if you can - or spend a few days to see them all.

American Mountaineering Center
Home of the Colorado Mountain Club and American Alpine Climb Museum and Library
The library is the largest mountaineering library in the Western Hemisphere with more than 17 thousand volumes. The museum will contain artifacts, art, climbing gear, and maps that are a historical testimony of mountaineering since the late 19th century.
710 10th Street
(303) 279-3080
www.mountaincenter.org

Armory Building
The Largest cobblestone building in the country, built in 1913 with 3,300 wagon loads of stream worn boulders from Clear Creek and quartz from Golden Gate Canyon.
13th and Arapahoe Streets
(303) 270-3113

Astor House Hotel Museum
On the national Historic Register of Historic Places. Constructed of locally quarried stone, it was the first stone hotel built west of the Mississippi River (in 1867) and is the oldest remaining hotel in Colorado.
12th and Arapahoe Streets
(303) 278-3557
www.astorhousemuseum.org

Buffalo Bill's Gravesite and Museum/Pahaska Teepee
The Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave offers visitors an intimate view of the Old West as experienced and promoted by Buffalo Bill. Exhibits exploring Buffalo Bill's life and times include Wild West show outfits and posters, Indian artifacts, and antique firearms. Temporary exhibits, changed every year, explore a variety of Western themes. Children and adults alike can try on cowboy outfits and get a picture while seated on "Stumpy," the Museum's fiberglass horse.
The complex on Lookout Mountain includes the Buffalo Bill Museum, Buffalo Bill's grave, and the Pahaska Tepee gift shop and snack bar.
987 1/2 Lookout Mountain Road
(303) 526-0747
www.buffalobill.org

Calvary Episcopal Church
Consecrated in 1867, by missionary Bishop George Randall, founder of the Colorado School of Mines, is the oldest continuously used Episcopal Church in Colordao, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Walk the grounds of the American gothic revival church to see the historic stained glass windows dating from 1872, and the Great Hall, consecrated in 2000. Tours of the interior of the historic church may be arranged by inquiring in the church office.
13th and Arapahoe Streets
(303) 279-2188
www.calvarygolden.net

Clear Creek Ranch Park
Consisting of two historical cabins and a school (relocated from mountain homesteads). With ranching amenities such as houses, barns and corrals, originally located in the mountains west of Golden, the park depicts early ranching history. Renovation included hand-hewn logs, split shingles, and authentic chinking.
11th Street, between Arapahoe and Cheyenne Streets
(303) 278-3557
www.clearcreekhistorypark.org

Colorado Railroad Museum
Twelve acres of narrow and standard gauge locomotives, cars, and 50 thousand rare old photographs, papers and artifacts. The museum itself is a replica of an 1880-style masonry railroad depot. The gift shop has over a thousand railroad books, videotapes, posters, prints, jewelry, and other memorabilia. Open 9AM to 5PM (9AM to 6PM between June and August). Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas.
17155 West 44th Avenue
(303) 279-4591, or (800) 365-6263
www.crrm.org

Colorado School of Mines
The first public institution of higher learning to open its doors in Colorado, was established in 1874 to serve the needs of the local mining industry. Today, the School has an international reputation for excellence in both engineering education and the applied sciences with special expertise in the development and stewardship of the Earth's resources. Mines has the highest admission standards of any public university in Colorado and among the highest of any public university in the U.S. The campus features beautifully renovated historical architecture as well as award-winning new buildings.
1500 Illinois St., Golden
(303) 273-3000
(800) 446-9488
www.mines.edu

Coors Brewery Tours
Come see and taste traditional brewing in the Rocky Mountains! Since 1873 Coors brewing has thrived on a legacy of quality, innovation and customer service. The newly upgraded tour includes a 40-minute walk through our malting, brewing and packaging processes, sampling of Coors fine products in our hospitality lounge and shopping in the Coors & Co. gift shop. Product samples are limited in quantity and available only to those 21 years and older with valid ID. Non-alcoholic beverages are also available. Guests under 18 years old must be accompanied by an adult. Tours are Free.
Mon - Sat: 10AM - 4PM (closed Sundays & major holidays).
13th & Ford Streets, Golden
(303) 277-BEER - Tour Info
(866) 812-2337
www.coors.com

Dinosaur Ridge
World renown geological and paleontological outdoor museum. It contains more than a hundred dinosaur tracks discovered in 1937. Bones were first discovered in 1877, igniting the dinosaur rush to the West. You can take your own tours with fifteen interpretive signs and guided tours on open days.
State Highway 26 (between C-470 and Highway 93)
(303) 697-DINO (3466)
www.dinoridge.org

Foothills Art Center
Award-winning art exhibits in a historic setting. Located in the heart of downtown Golden, the galleries are situated in a gorgeous Neo-Gothic Victorian church, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Exhibits showcase artists of regional, national and international renown, featuring traditional and contemporary artwork. Art classes are available for people of all ages and abilities, and the gift shop offers high quality, affordable works by Colorado artists, including jewelry, ceramics, glass, paintings and much more. Open seven days a week.
Mon - Sat: 10AM to 5PM; Sun: 1PM - 5PM
809 15th Street
15th and Washington Avenue
(303) 279-3922
www.foothillsartcenter.org

Geology Museum
The Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum offers free admission to extraordinary exhibits including Minerals from Colorado, Colorado Mining Heritage, Mining Artifacts, Gold & Silver Display, Gemstones, Mineral Properties & Earth History, special Radioactive exhibits, World Minerals and Fossils. A favorite for many visitors is the representation of a uranium mine, complete with driller and crystal pocket.
Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat: 9AM - 4PM
Tue, Thu: 10AM - 4PM
Sun: Closed until late Aug
Colorado School of Mines, 13th and Maple St., Golden
(303) 273-3823
(303) 273-3815 Tours Hot Line
www.mines.edu/academic/geology/museum