The employees are very nice, equipped with great knowledge. Our tour guide Toren was really fun and…read moreeducational! You would have never known she's only done a handful of tours and is new-ish touring with Argo Mill. The tour was very interesting and living in Colorado for 20+ years, I've always seen the red building driving by Idaho Springs but never thought they had tours available to check out. We panned for gold at the end and that was very fun to learn how to do that. All in all I'd recommend to support local and Idaho Springs to come check them out. The tour is not handicap friendly so if you have a wheel chair it would not be ideal to walk through the mill. Hard hat is for show with the tunnel visit but it was def a fun experience with photo opportunity.

The Argo Mine & Tunnel tour in Idaho Springs is such a unique and educational experience. The…read moreguided tour takes you deep into Colorado's gold mining history and really brings the story of the miners to life. We purchased our tickets on site at the tour location. Tours times fill up quickly and you can also book tours online. You start the tour by watching a video that gives you a history of the tunnel and mill. The Argo Mill and Tunnel became an international center of milling and tunneling innovation and served for many gold mines in Colorado. Construction of the Argo Tunnel began in 1893 and lasted 10 years until it reached Central City 4.2 miles away. The Argo Mill was a state of the art facility providing the latest technological advancements in milling and situated at the mouth of the mighty tunnel. On January 19th, 1943, a catastrophic flood in the tunnel caused the Argo Mill and Tunnel to cease operations. Then we loaded on a shuttle and took a short ride to the mouth of the Argo Tunnel. We start by picking up safety equipment including a helmet. Walking through the tunnel itself is like going back in time, it's cool, damp, and feels like stepping into another era. Then we moved to the Mill itself that had many original equipment items still on site. Our guide was knowledgeable, engaging, and shared so many interesting details about how the mine operated, the hardships miners faced, and how important the Argo was to Colorado's development. The guide explained each piece of machinery and the purpose along with an explanation for any missing equipment. You can tell he is passionate about preserving the history. The museum area is well done and adds great context after the tour. After the tour, perused the gift shop and got some great souvineers for 50% off! Highly recommend for families, visitors, or anyone looking to learn something new while exploring the mountains. It's a perfect stop if you're passing through Idaho Springs, especially if you enjoy history, geology, or unique local experiences.

We got so much more out of this experience than anticipated! We utilized a Groupon for admission…read more The whole staff was welcoming on arrival. We got paired with a tour guide, Christine, who made the whole experience much more immersive. She was extremely knowledgeable and learned everyone's names, kept the whole tour engaging and inclusive for all ages. we walked away feeling like this was a truly valuable visit. It may seem like small museum, but trust the process, allow about 2-2.5 hrs, and take it all in! It really was an enriching "hands on" experience and we learned a lot about dinosaurs in that direct area!

Small museum but you are able to touch everything which my kids loved. Also if they are available…read morethey will tour you around in small groups. Really wonderful!!

Having just taken my nearly 2 year old to the Denver Children's Museum for the first time the day…read morebefore, this was SUCH a breath of fresh air. I can't say enough good things about it but most importantly how is this free?! I feel like they could charge $5 admission & I'd still be cool with it but I'll take free all day! My son has never seen a farm & growing up in San Jose my mother often took my brother & I to a place called Prusch Farm. Very similar to this museum so I was delighted to be able to find something I could take my son to so that I could try to give him the kind of cool childhood memories I treasure. This was even better because of the working Blacksmith! My son was in awe by the whole thing but my husband & I have never seen a blacksmith in action either. The variety of animals plus the costumed volunteers & walkable buildings are such a great way to entertain a toddler. We got there at opening & were able to get everything done by the time it was getting more crowded around 11AM. I would definitely come back as we missed seeing the small indoor museum near check in. Loved this 10x more then the Children's Museum!

What a fun little day activity. I went with my daughter and Mom and we walked around the 40 acre…read morefarm which is very accurately historically based. The inside of the museum was very interesting with an art exhibit, a special exhibit which currently focused on Kate Farretti and the Littleton history area which included a kids zone. The Kate Farretti exhibit depicted the life of a famous hat maker originally from Italy, she settled in Denver with her husband and made hats for Denver's elite including Molly Brown. Kate was also mother to the first triplets to be born in Denver. You can spend a couple hours here and make a day of it. I loved the living history farm portion which included 1860's and 1890's farms and contained 5 historical buildings as well as outhouses and a root cellar. It is an acutal working farm with 1800lb cows, turkeys, chickens, sheep, donkeys and a blacksmith! The gardens throughout were beautiful, we got to pick some pumpkins and see what would have been grown in this historical time period. Both livestock and gardens were accurately portrayed for the time period. You can only bring water in so don't try to do a picnic onsite. You are able to bring strollers and wagons and I would recommend doing so, there is a lot of land to be covered which requires a lot of walking.

School of Mines plays host to an excellent rock, mineral and earth science collection! Parking is…read morepaid but close by. You can find the location easily on Google. The museum opens with a small gift shop. They had a nice assortment but I would've liked more with the Mines name and logo! The best part is it's free, and massive. They have a ton of minerals on display, from local to far away. Any Colorado rockhounder will appreciate the Boulder and Table Mtn collections as well as the San Juan minerals. I loved the display cabinets and lighting. There are two floors as well, and the bottom level has a really cool display mine for kids! They have some fossils as well, great to see. Awesome alternative to bustling Denver and the $15 Museum of Nature and Science. Glad we have this in our community!

This free museum is located at the school of mines. It encompasses two floors, and features various…read morecollections of rocks, minerals, and fossils. The museum is also home to one of the moon rocks collected during the Apollo 17 mission, as well as the Miss Colorado crown. It's a family friendly place to visit! Free parking on the weekends.

This is a nice little stop located within the shops of Idaho Springs main street. The Underhill…read moreMuseum chronicles the history of Idaho Springs as a mining town, with relevant exhibits. There is nothing terribly exciting and it will keep you occupied maybe 15-30 minutes (it is a very small place), but there are a few items worth looking at. Two things really stuck out at me. They have a few vaults/safes including one that you can walk in, along with a series of rocks and minerals that you could show to your children. They also sell historical photos of Idaho Springs and a few other similar pictures. The prices were not terribly expensive from what I recall -- although, there were a few pricier options. Some people may wonder why I gave this place such a good rating. That is because its free. They ask for a $2 donation, and I can respect this miniature museum for what it is. If you're strolling through, its worth a few minutes of your time.

Drove up here to Lookout Mountain to check out Buffalo Bills grave. Cool spot. Great views! They…read morehave a little gift shop. Cool "free" thing to do while in/around Denver.

For just $5 this really is a steal for how cool this museum is! I totally recommend it- they truly…read morehad some awesome looking antiques on display, I was super impressed!

Visited when I first moved to town about one year ago, so I'm very late on many of my reviews, but…read morestill a wonderful museum and staff.

We came in for the family Christmas and Hamill house did not disappoint. It is such a treat to…read moreexperience this small towns heritage and their traditions. I do wish that our kids had been a little older since I think it would have been more enjoyable to do the sing alongs and the reading of a night before Christmas. If you are planning on going I would say a kid 5-12 would be age appropriate for this event. If you happen to be in Georgetown for the Christmas market or are planning on doing the Christmas train I do highly recommend this!

As a Denver local, I've been wanting to check this museum off my list for almost a decade. Today I…read morefinally made it, and all I can say is... WOW! Definitely of the best museums we have here in the city- and it's very affordable at $13/pp. This is one of the most exceptional displays and collections on transportation history I've ever seen. If you tend to take your time through museums, I would budget at least 2.5 hours for this one. They probably have over 100 different vehicles, not including bikes, trains, planes, etc.. Note: I would not recommend this space for children, however. This will be my new spot to take out of town guests!

It's a huge museum with a wide but random collection of vehicles of a variety of types, from cars…read moreto motorcycles to trains to more. The price is reasonable. I'm sure people with particular passions would find some portions exciting. But for me, a random person with a random kid, it's just ok. There's a level of technical detail about many items in the collection but little story or context. For example, there's a diagram that shows the literally hundreds of parts of a steam engine but nothing that explains at like kid level how it works. And what do the giant cars of the 1960s, as a trend, say about America at that time? I have no idea. I get that they don't want people touching the collection, but the signs and volunteers around feel oppressive at times. Some things like the train passenger cars even appear set up for people to be able to go in, but I've never seen them open across multiple visits. The streetcar has an unattached, standalone lever in front, going into the roped off path -- which seems like SURELY it's there to give kids SOMETHING interactive -- but it also has a "don't touch" sign, which is almost comical, like a flashing red button that just says "don't press this button."