Yes, there really is a South Park in Colorado. It isn’t a town filled with animated fourth graders. South Park is a vast, high-elevation basin surrounded by mountains in central Colorado.

Fairplay is the largest town in the region and is often associated with the fictional setting of the television series “South Park.” On the edge of town, South Park City offers a fascinating walk through Colorado’s mining past.

My friend Melissa and I stopped at the open-air museum expecting a quick visit. Several hours later, we were still dipping in and out of historic buildings.

The History of South Park and Fairplay

Hunters and trappers traveling through the Rocky Mountains began using the name South Park during the 1840s. Gold discoveries brought prospectors to the region in 1859, launching mining camps across the basin.

Fair Play was established that same year at the junction of Beaver Creek and the South Platte River. The community served as a supply center for surrounding mining camps. It was renamed South Park City in 1869 before becoming Fairplay, written as one word, in 1874.

As mining declined, ranching, fishing and tourism helped Fairplay survive while other communities became ghost towns. Fairplay is known as the Trout Fishing Capitol of Colorado and is part of the South Park National Heritage Area, including historic mines and ranches, pristine valleys, mountain peaks and ancient bristlecone pines.

Exploring South Park City Museum

South Park City Museum opened in 1959, exactly 100 years after gold was discovered in the region. Local preservationists created the museum after realizing many of Park County’s abandoned mining buildings were disappearing.

The museum has 44 historic buildings filled with more than 60,000 artifacts. Seven buildings remain on their original sites, while others were moved from ghost towns and former mining camps including Alma, Leavick, Buckskin Joe and Montgomery.

Walking along the wooden boardwalks feels like stepping into a late-1800s Colorado mining town.

Historic Buildings Along Front Street

Dyer Memorial Chapel makes for a good first stop. Originally a hotel in Montgomery, a mining town later submerged beneath Montgomery Reservoir, Reverends John L. Dyer and W.F. Warren reconstructed the building log by log and converted it into a Methodist church in 1867.

There’s a smokehouse, South Park Brewery and Summer Saloon.

More than 40 buildings line Front Street, including a saloon, courthouse, dentist’s office, schoolhouse, newspaper office, blacksmith shop, drugstore and general store. You can go in and out of many of them, including the Pioneer House still in its original site from the 1800s.

The red sandstone Summer Saloon is one of the street’s most impressive buildings. Nearby, the log courthouse dates to 1862, when Buckskin Joe was the Park County seat.

The dentist’s office contains equipment used more than a century ago. Let’s just say it made me grateful for modern dentistry. The dental equipment, estimated to be more than 100 years old, was used by a Dr. McKenna in Breckenridge.  Garo Cabin is a look at a pioneer laundry house.

Mining and Railroad History

The replica Alma Queen Mine and its headhouse provide a look at historic mining operations. The mill houses machinery once used to process gold ore.

One of my favorite areas is the Transportation Shed and South Park City Depot, partly because you can climb aboard a train. The depot was originally the Buffalo Springs School, built around 1900.

The narrow-gauge Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad began running through the region in 1879. The museum’s collection includes a locomotive, ore car, boxcar, cattle car and caboose.

Homes, Stores, Saloons and Everyday Life

The homestead, originally in the Leavick ghost town, is an interesting look at everyday life in the late 1800s.

The Star Livery Stable is believed to be the oldest established livery in the original town of Fairplay. There’s a Stage Barn and Hoffman Brothers Blacksmith Shop, moved from the ghost town of Leavick.

The one-room schoolhouse was built in 1879 and used until the mid-1930s. Some of its handmade desks are among the oldest in Park County.

Inside the South Park Sentinel newspaper office is a Washington hand press. The building was the first historic structure relocated to South Park City.

The general store illustrates how these businesses functioned as the supermarkets and post offices of mining communities.

The South Park City Drug Store was originally a pioneer feed store in the nearby town of Alma. Inside there’s a complete line of 1880s medicines and elixirs. Except for the soda fountain, it’s set up similar to the 1880 J.A. Merriam Drugstore originally established in Westcliffe.

Rachel’s Place is South Park’s saloon and gambling parlor. The false front makes it seem more fancy than it really is.

Last stop is the Company Store, before you return back to the 21st century.

Know Before You Go

South Park City is open seasonally from May 15 through October 15.

Hours vary between early season, summer and fall. Give yourself at least two hours, although history lovers could easily stay longer.

Fairplay sits at nearly 10,000 feet. Bring water, sun protection and a layer, even during summer. Afternoon thunderstorms and fast temperature changes are common at this elevation.

Make it a South Park Road Trip

Fall is a beautiful time to visit Fairplay and South Park City. One of my favorite scenic loops travels over Boreas Pass from Breckenridge to Como, continues to Fairplay and Alma, then returns to Breckenridge over Hoosier Pass.

While you’re in the region, consider exploring the historic railroad buildings in Como, hiking among ancient bristlecone pines or fishing one of South Park’s Gold Medal waters.

Check out posts Fall Gold Mine in Aspen Alley and Leaf Peeping in Breckenridge and Frisco for more places to see great fall colors not far from Fairplay.