Leadville, Colorado Wall Art

The Two Mile High City

Sitting at 10,151 ft above sea level, Leadville is one of Colorado’s more unique towns, and that’s saying a lot for a state with such incredible mountain culture. Not a big place but it’s still racked up a number of nicknames over the years: The Two Mile High City, Oro City, Cloud City, and Slab Town. That alone provides a great hint into Leadville’s rich mining history that began in 1859 during the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush, and that hunt for gold, silver, and lead continued for 130 years. Visiting the small town today, you can still feel what Leadville once was, and that’s a lot of the draw. Only 2 hours from Denver, but it feels a world away, with unprecendented views of the surrounding mountains and no crowds. The architecture is gorgeous and well preserved in a lot of cases like the Delaware Hotel which first opened in 1886. Of course the local jewel is the Silver Dollar Saloon. You’d be hard pressed to find another like it anywhere in the country. Inside you can feel the years (established 1879), and that feeling only gets better once you learn more about it’s history with noted regulars like Doc Holiday! The most surprising part of Leadville is the fact that it has delicious food! I’d recommend checking out The Silver Llama Market and Eatery for breakfast and Treeline Kitchen for dinner. They are conveniently located right next to each other and Treeline has a great rooftop patio that’s open in the warmer months. Mineral 1886 also has good food for lunch and dinner.

Walking through the neighborhoods is always fun because you’ll get a feel for daily life, and Leadville has some colorful houses that are intricately shingled. If you are looking for more of a workout, the Mineral Belt Trail (12 miles) can provide year round recreation with top notch views of the mountains and will take you up close to some of the old mining claims. Walking, running, and biking in the summer. Fat biking and cross country skiing in the winter. There is a nordic center just outside of Tennessee Pass and endless access to backcountry skiing/snowboarding from all routes in/out of town. And If there’s any reason this little hideaway would sound familiar, that’s because it’s home to one of the hardest mountain bike races in the country - The Leadville 100! That and Melanzana, which is supposedly on a year waitlist for hooded sweatshirts. Perhaps the most redeeming quality about their main drag though, is you won’t see a single chain restaurant or business. They are all locally owned and there is no mistaking that fact! Leadville is a gem of a place that you hope will retain it’s small town charm for decades to come. If you’re looking for a fun getaway with resort crowds, check out Leadville for a couple nights.

If you’d like to have a little piece of Leadville to remember your trip and brighten your walls with Colorado culture, contact me directly about photography prints for your home, office, or commercials space. - rob@robhammerphotography.com

Photography print of downtown Leadville, Colorado — Leadville, Colorado Wall Art

Photograph of the Golden Burro Cafe in Leadville, Colorado — The Golden Burro Cafe - Leadville

Photography print of the Silver Dollar Saloon in Leadville, Colorado — Black and white photograph of the Silver Dollar Saloon in Leadville, CO

Black and white photograph of the bar inside the Silver Dollar Saloon in Leadville, Colorado — Photograph of the bar inside the Silver Dollar Saloon

Photograph of High Mountain Pies Pizzeria in Leadville, Colorado — High Mountain Pies - Leadville, CO

Photograph of an American Flag hanging in the window of a house with colorful shingles and a ski fence in Leadville, CO — Colorful house in Leadville, CO

Photo print of the Silver Dollar Saloon in Leadville, CO — Leadville Saloon

Photograph of bar stools and the old tile floor in the Silver Dollar Saloon in Leadville, CO — Tile floor in the Leadville Saloon

Photograph of the interior of the saloon in Leadville, CO — Pool table and taxidermy inside the Silver Dollar Saloon - Leadville, CO

Hand painted beer sign on an old brick building in Leadville, CO — Beer - Leadville, CO

Capturing the Spirit of the Llano Estacado: A Journey Through Texas’ Endless Plains

The Llano Estacado is a place you don’t stumble across; it’s a place you reckon with. One of the most iconic and least understood landscapes in the American West, this vast plateau of grass and sky sprawls across Texas and New Mexico, holding onto its secrets and daring you to listen. Out here, the land doesn’t beg for your attention—it demands it.

For a photographer, the Llano Estacado is both a gift and a challenge. It’s the kind of place where you can drive for hours and see nothing, but also see everything. The light plays games with the land, casting long shadows across red dirt canyons one moment and igniting the horizon with a blazing sunset the next. This is a place where distance feels infinite, where the horizon blurs into eternity, and where silence is louder than any city you’ve ever known.

I’ve spent days with my camera out here, trying to make sense of a landscape that refuses to be pinned down. In the Llano Estacado, every scene feels timeless. Windmills still turn against endless skies, lone ranch houses sit hunkered against the elements, and the remnants of old cattle trails whisper of a time when the West was wild. The photographs I take here aren’t just about the land—they’re about its resilience, its quiet strength, and its ability to hold onto history while shrugging off the future.

There’s something raw about the Llano Estacado, something that gets under your skin. The wind is constant, carrying dust and memories of those who came before—Comanche warriors, Spanish explorers, and cattlemen who fought for a living in this unforgiving land. But for all its toughness, there’s a kind of poetry here, too. It’s in the way the light softens at dusk, the way a storm rolls in across the plains like the world’s slowest freight train, or the way a lone yucca plant stands defiant against the wind.

I photograph these moments not to tame them but to honor them. The Llano Estacado isn’t a place that conforms to you; it’s a place that changes you. And in every image, I try to capture a piece of that—the wildness, the solitude, the beauty that refuses to be anything but itself.

For anyone who loves the West, the Llano Estacado is a reminder of what it means to live with the land rather than against it. For me, it’s a place I’ll never stop returning to, camera in hand, chasing the light and the stories it holds.

If you’re drawn to the rugged beauty of the American West, I invite you to explore my collection of fine art photographs of the Llano Estacado. These images are more than landscapes—they’re testaments to a land that refuses to be forgotten.

Contact me directly if you’d like to purchase a print - rob@robhammerphotography.com