The Gold Belt Tour Scenic and Historic Byway covers 131 miles of former gold rush country in south-central Colorado, connecting Florissant, Cripple Creek, Victor, Cañon City, and Florence through terrain that ranges from high alpine meadows to deep rocky canyons.
The route follows old railroad grades and stagecoach roads built to supply North America’s richest gold camp after prospector Bob Womack discovered gold near Cripple Creek in October 1890. Colorado named it one of the state’s first five scenic byways in 1989, and it earned National Scenic Byway status from the Federal Highway Administration in 2000. In 2024, it also became a Colorado Electric Byway, reflecting real investment in EV charging along the corridor.
What makes this byway distinctive is choice: travelers can stick to the paved main loop through Highway 9, Highway 50, and Teller County Road 1, or detour onto Shelf Road or Phantom Canyon Road, both unpaved backcountry routes that follow the original stagecoach and railroad paths through dramatic canyon terrain.
Beyond the mining history, the route passes three notable fossil sites and sits minutes from the Royal Gorge, making it a denser history-and-geology drive than its modest mileage suggests.
Route Details: Gold Belt Tour Scenic and Historic Byway
Florissant and the Fossil Beds (0 miles)
The byway begins near Florissant, home to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, one of the richest fossil insect and plant sites in the world, preserved in ancient volcanic ash layers. It’s a strong first stop for anyone interested in the route’s geology alongside its mining history.
Teller County Road 1 to Cripple Creek (20 miles)
Teller County Road 1, the first stagecoach route built to reach Cripple Creek, carries the byway south through high country with distant views of both the Sangre de Cristo Range and Pikes Peak. This paved stretch is one of the most scenic parts of the main loop.
Cripple Creek (35 miles)
Cripple Creek still carries the look of its gold rush heyday, when the town had two opera houses, 75 saloons, eight newspapers, and its own stock exchange. The Cripple Creek District Museum, the Old Homestead House Museum (a preserved 1896 brothel), and the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine, which offers underground tours, are all worth the stop. Cripple Creek also has the byway’s free Tesla Level 2 charging.
Victor (40 miles)
Victor sits a short drive from Cripple Creek and shared in the same mining boom, with the Lowell Thomas Museum covering relics from the era. A large open-pit and heap-leach gold mine still operates between the two towns, a reminder that gold mining here never fully ended.
Phantom Canyon Road detour (55 miles, unpaved)
Phantom Canyon Road follows the old Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad bed, climbing 4,550 feet over about 30 miles. It’s unpaved, limited to vehicles under 25 feet, and offers one of the most dramatic alternate routes on the byway for those with the right vehicle.
Shelf Road detour (55 miles, unpaved, alternate)
As an alternative to Phantom Canyon, Shelf Road descends from Cripple Creek to Cañon City along a historic wagon route carved into limestone cliffs, with 17 creek crossings and sheer rock walls. It’s also known locally as some of the best sport climbing terrain in the state.
Garden Park Fossil Area (95 miles)
North of Cañon City, the Garden Park Fossil Area is one of the most significant dinosaur fossil discovery sites in the country, where several well-known dinosaur species were first identified in the late 1800s. It’s a quick, worthwhile stop before reaching Cañon City.
Cañon City and the Royal Gorge (105 miles)
Cañon City anchors the byway’s southern half, with 81 National Historic Landmark buildings downtown, the Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center, and the Museum of Colorado Prisons. The Royal Gorge Bridge sits just outside town, spanning a canyon the Arkansas River cut 1,250 feet deep, and Cañon City also has the byway’s strongest EV charging, a 200 kW DC fast charger.
Florence (131 miles)
The byway ends in Florence, a smaller town that grew up supplying the Cripple Creek mining district alongside Cañon City. It’s a quiet close to a drive built around the boom-and-bust story of Colorado’s gold rush.
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