Ride a miniature railway through a town built for one child in 1915
A village at one-sixth scale
A valley in the foothills filled with more than a hundred buildings at one-sixth scale, laid out along lanes you walk down, with a working miniature railway carrying passengers through the middle of it.
Why it's unique
It was built for one child. A Denver moving company owner began constructing a miniature town for his daughter in 1915, called it Turnerville, and opened it to the public in 1921 when it outgrew being a private gift.
Miniature villages exist elsewhere, but almost all of them are display pieces built as attractions from the start and viewed from behind a rail. This one grew from a father's project, is walkable rather than viewable, and has survived fire and flood over a century to still be running on the ground where it started.
Before you go
It closes for winter, which catches people out — check before driving up.
The buildings are among you rather than behind glass, so it reads quite differently from a model village. The railway is a real narrow-gauge line with real locomotives, not a fairground ride, and it is worth doing rather than just watching.