Places sierrawest Wants to Go

The largest source of fossilized insects anywhere.

Abandoned silver mine strewn with wrecked and twisted structures.

This 19th-century ranch is being transformed into a residential library with thousands of books about the natural world.

Roaming bison and a spectacular view at the highest point in Nebraska.

Once an unstoppable source of gold and silver, this town came to a grinding stop when the groundwater proved deadly.

At one time this small mining village was the highest town in America but now it sits abandoned while the mine churns on.

The same security that protects our nukes accidentally protected a gentle herd of antelope.

A monument to the egos of two railroad magnates that fell into decline along with their careers.

Miraculous tree that seems to sprout out of solid rock.

One of the smallest towns in the United States.

The remains of the dam that unleashed a 15-foot wall of water on Denver.

This hot dog-shaped diner has moved all around Colorado, but has never been to New York.

A collection of fading fantasy tchotchkes lines this dirt road in the Colorado wilderness.

The wreckage of a World War II bomber is hidden high in the Colorado wilderness.

A prehistoric rock shelter that's literally in someone's backyard.

In the middle of a suburban Denver neighborhood is a cave that once provided solace for a prominent Ute chief and his family.

Paleoamericans built these ancient walls high in the Colorado Rockies as part of an extensive hunting system.

This deserted Gold Rush town is home to a Masonic lodge that, strangely enough, still holds meetings.

This underfoot portrait is the work of a disgruntled painter inspired by a tragic poem.

The final resting place of a 19th-century gold prospector and convicted cannibal.

The world's largest key collection features keys to the White House, Frankenstein's castle, and Hitler's bunker.

Rather than a run-of-the-mill franchise hotel, this lodging has been decked out in dinosaur decor.

An annual festival celebrating Colorado's most famous frozen corpse.

The final resting place of American icon Buffalo Bill, and a museum that aids in telling his tale.