[7] Idaho Springs is located in Clear Creek Canyon, in the mountains upstream from Golden, some 30 miles (50 km) west of Denver.

Founded 166 years ago in 1859 by prospectors during the early days of the Pike's Peak Gold Rush, the town was at the center of the region's mining district throughout the late nineteenth century.

The Argo Tunnel drained and provided access to many lodes of ore between Idaho Springs and Central City.

It also serves as a bedroom community for workers at the Loveland Ski Area farther up the canyon.

Jackson, a Missouri native with experience in the California gold fields, was drawn to the area by clouds of steam rising from some nearby hot springs.

The Idaho Springs miners' strike of 1903 demanding an eight-hour day erupted into violence in May 1903.

[12] Idaho Springs has a humid continental climate (Koppen: Dfb) with moderately cold winters and warm summers with cool nights.

[19] Beaus of Holly, a -TV Christmas movie produced in 2020 for the ION Channel, was filmed in Idaho Springs.