One of Colorado’s most ambitious tourism projects is steadily taking shape high above Idaho Springs, where construction crews are bringing the Mighty Argo Cable Car vision closer to reality.
This summer marked major progress for the $71 million development, which will feature a gondola rising 1.2 miles from the base terminal to the mountaintop destination known as Miners Point. Towers are already in place, awaiting the haul rope and the gold-colored cabins that will soon carry visitors up the mountain. The top terminal and plaza, offering panoramic views of four 14,000-foot peaks and the Continental Divide, are also under construction.
“The bottom terminal is next,” said project leader and local businesswoman Mary Jane Loevlie. “And then we’re looking forward to an early 2026 opening, March or April.”
The mountaintop experience will be more than just a gondola ride. At Miners Point, visitors will find restaurants, event spaces, and an amphitheater designed to host concerts, weddings, and community gatherings. An expanding network of trails will connect to the gondola, offering mountain bikers and hikers direct access to Virginia Canyon Mountain Park.
“Sometimes I think I’m in a little bit of denial, that it’s all really happening,” Loevlie said. “It’s just really a feeling of wonderment, that we’re actually building this and that this vision is really a reality now.”
That vision stretches back to 2018, when Loevlie, a lifelong Idaho Springs resident, imagined a gondola rising above the historic Argo Mill and Tunnel — the iconic red landmark seen from Interstate 70. Realizing the dream wasn’t easy. Loevlie and her partners endured years of regulatory hurdles and even financial setbacks, including the theft of $4.5 million by a Virginia-based title company. “Very painful,” she recalled of the ordeal, though a 2022 civil court settlement allowed her to rally new investors.
Today, major backers are firmly behind the project. Doppelmayr, the global leader in lift-building, is overseeing construction, while European investors under the firm FUNIS have contributed significantly. “Altogether $35 million into little old Idaho Springs,” Loevlie said proudly. Gondola Ventures, which owns the historic tramway in Estes Park, has also joined as part of its mission to expand scenic ropeways in North America.
Conservative projections suggest the Mighty Argo Cable Car could attract 400,000 visitors annually, many of them mountain bikers eager to take advantage of the region’s growing trail network. The Colorado Mountain Bike Association has already built 14 miles of new trails, and long-term plans envision more than 25 miles — creating the largest lift-served biking and hiking network in the state outside of a ski resort.
The project blends the area’s rich mining heritage with modern recreation. Visitors will be able to pair tours of the Argo Mill and Tunnel with high-alpine experiences at Miners Point. Idaho Springs Mayor Chuck Harmon has called it “probably the biggest thing to happen to the city of Idaho Springs since the gold rush.”
The budget, however, has grown since its original $58 million estimate. At $71 million, the price tag reflects the scale and complexity of the undertaking. Still, Loevlie remains optimistic. “But we’ve managed to overcome,” she said. “We have big believers in the project.”
With construction continuing through 2025, excitement is building for the gondola’s debut. For Idaho Springs, the Mighty Argo Cable Car represents both a nod to its storied past and a bold step into a new era of tourism and recreation.
Originally reported by Seth Boster in Gazette.
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