One of the closest Colorado road trips we have done is the 45-ish minute drive into the areas around Idaho Springs. I would have to say, it is probable our favorite place to go and get out of town for a while. It is also very close to Central City and Blackhawk if we feel like doing a little gambling.
A short and easy walk from downtown Idaho Springs in Colorado will bring you to Water Wheel Park and Bridal Veil Falls. We saw the falls while taking a break and having a beer at the Westwinds Tavern. It looked cool so we had to take a walk and check it out before we left the area. I later learned it is called the Charlie Taylor Waterwheel Trail. The trail goes under Interstate 70 then goes west for about 1/10th of a mile before it arrives at the best viewing area for Bridal Veil Falls.
While doing some more research on the falls, I learned that the falls spill out of Soda Creek high above, making its way then into Clear Creek, a stream famous for its gold, river rafting, and Coors Beer. I remember hearing about this creek on our Coors tour and thought it was quite interesting.
The water wheel itself is also quite interesting and was built in the late 1800’s by a local miner, Charlie Taylor. He used the water wheel to drive a machine called a stamp mill. Soft of like a big hammer that grinds and crushes the rock to get silver and gold ore out of it. It was relocated from Ute Creek to its present location by a group of volunteers in the 1980’s and now belongs to the Idaho Springs Historical Society.
Like I said earlier, it’s a very short walk and very pleasant. We had our dogs with us and they seemed to enjoy running around as much as we did. We checked out the creek, falls, plaque, water wheel, and Bridal Veil Falls. It was a particularly warm day here for springtime in Colorado and I was very happy to stop under the 1-70 bridge for a few minutes to cool off, lol We spent some time reading the plaques and taking some pictures. If you are in the area, I would highly recommend taking the time to visit Water Wheel Park and Bridal Veil Falls. Above is a video of the Falls. Enjoy.
Join Samantha Thursday, April 15th at 8 pm Eastern on Zoom for “Let’s Talk Travel” The topic for this call will be travel accommodations. Do you like to stay at hotels, an Airbnb, a hostel, etc? I look forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions. Hope to see you then. Click the link above to join the conversation! Password: Travel
