Ghost Town of Independence, 16 mi. e. on SR 82, is the faded relic of the Roaring Fork Valley’s original gold mining community. After the first gold strike in 1879 the town boomed; decline set in by the end of the 1880s when the nearby mines stopped producing. The Aspen Historical Society in the Wheeler/Stallard Museum at 620 W. Bleeker St. offers information about self-guiding tours.
Note: Do not enter obviously sagging structures that could collapse.