High-country connector: Idaho springs touts tourist appeal.

• Author: Van Cleave, Whitney
• Position: TRAVEL/TOURISM

Tucked along Interstate 70 about 30 miles west of Denver, Idaho Springs is more than an oasis or fuel stop for motorists from the Front Range en route to Colorado's mountain resort country. Getting more tourists to slow down and visit the historic gold-rush town has been a priority, and Idaho Springs and Clear Creek County have staked claim to a collaborative and inventive approach to grass-roots tourism development.

It started in 2012 with the restructuring of the Clear Creek County Tourism Bureau and the requirement that all members had to be somehow involved in the tourism industry. In April 2013, the group hired Cassandra Patton, a former art director with a marketing background, as the bureau's full-time director.

"One unique thing about us is that we give the whole county free promotion," she says. "We're here to help ... not just those that are willing to pay dues, and I think that has changed a lot of the community vision."

Under the leadership of newly elected Mayor Michael Hillman, voters approved a sales tax hike of one penny on the dollar to 7.9 percent to fund road maintenance, sidewalk improvements and code enforcement. According to Phyllis Adams, city administrator, Hillman marketed the idea the old-fashioned way by hitting the pavement.

"He's also a restaurant owner in town, so he has a much more ground-level perspective than the previous mayor did," says Jason Siegal, president of the Idaho Springs Chamber of Commerce. "I think that's really helping to change the attitude of some of the stagnate business owners."

For Siegal, ideas are only as good as the actions behind them. As general manger of the Kine Mine, a retail marijuana dispensary in town that attributes 80 percent to 85 percent of its traffic to tourists, Siegal understands the relationship between economic development and tourism. He has witnessed a good amount of turnover among tourist-centric businesses and thus advocates for well-researched, season-proof growth.

"I think that if we had some more sustainable businesses opening up in downtown that are run a little bit more efficiently, over time, just having consistent business operations in a small town like this is the kind of thing that brings people back," he says. He points to some of the most well-recognized businesses in town--Beau Jo's Pizza, Tommyknocker Brewery and The Buffalo restaurant--staples for tourists and locals alike.

One challenge that all of the residents and businesses in town share is a...