Colorado State Capitol

Completed In 1908, Its Dome Covered In Gold Leaf From The Colorado Gold Rush And Its Interior Panelled In Colorado Rose Onyx A Stone Found In Only One Place On Earth, Whose Entire Known Supply Was Used Up Building This. A Step On The West Side Stands Exactly One Mile Above Sea Level. · Denver, Colorado

The Colorado State Capitol is worth going inside for two things that cannot be replicated anywhere. The first is the dome, covered in real gold leaf donated by the mining industry, a direct nod to the gold rush that made the state and a thing that has to be re-gilded every few decades. The second is quieter and stranger: the wainscoting is Colorado Rose Onyx, a deep pink stone found in exactly one deposit, near Beulah, Colorado, and the entire known world supply was consumed panelling this building. If a piece is damaged it cannot be replaced. Outside, on the west steps, a marker records where the ground stands exactly one mile above sea level - and because later surveys kept disagreeing, there is now more than one marker, on different steps, and finding all of them is the best small errand in Denver. The building is free, the weekday tours are free, and the dome climb is free when it is open.

200 East Colfax Avenue, Denver, Colorado, 80203, United States

Open on weekdays during business hours and generally closed at weekends and on public holidays, since this is a working seat of government rather than a museum. Free guided tours run on weekdays and include the historic spaces; the DOME CLIMB to the observation gallery is seasonal, involves a long staircase and is sometimes closed for maintenance or in poor weather. Security screening operates at the entrance. Access can be restricted when the legislature is in session or during events.

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