Step 01
Walk the boundary before you drive up
Toggle between satellite imagery and USGS topo to read the terrain. The gold line is the recorded survey boundary, the dashed line is the common sideline between the two claims, and the blue thread is Soda Creek about 50 yards off the north boundary.
Humming Bird Lode
Humming Bird patented lode mining claim, Clear Creek County, Colorado
Southern claim — holds the graded pad and the built portion of the driveway.
- Mineral survey no.
- 14848Documented
- County account
- R011661Documented
- Parcel number
- 1961-111-00-604Documented
- County acreage
- 4.470 acDocumented
- 2026 actual / assessed
- $62,880 / $16,350Documented
- 2026 estimated tax
- $1,232.70Documented
Ontario Lode
Ontario patented lode mining claim, Clear Creek County, Colorado
Northern claim — climbs toward the ridge and reaches the north boundary nearest Soda Creek.
- Mineral survey no.
- 14848Documented
- County account
- R011660Documented
- Parcel number
- 1961-111-00-603Documented
- County acreage
- 4.470 acDocumented
- 2026 actual / assessed
- $62,880 / $16,350Documented
- 2026 estimated tax
- $1,232.70Documented
County account and parcel numbers above come from the latest 2026 assessor records. The dashed sideline on the map is a reading aid, not a legal boundary; the recorded survey and title documents govern.
Two claims, one holding
The Humming Bird and Ontario patented lode claims adjoin end to end. Clear Creek County's 2026 account records list 4.470 acres each, 8.94 acres combined. Patented claims convey fee-simple surface and mineral rights — not a leased or unpatented interest.
Surveyed and staked
A full boundary survey is on record, so the line drawn on the map here is the line a title company and the county will recognize.
Timber, rock, and grade
Mixed conifer with rock outcrop. The ground falls from about 8,580 ft at the south corner to about 8,000 ft at the north boundary — a broadly north-facing slope averaging roughly a third grade — opening to the graded bench where the pad has been cut.
Live water just off the north line
Soda Creek — annual flowing mountain runoff — passes roughly 50 yards north-west of the north boundary. Close enough to hear and to matter hydrologically, off the parcel for floodplain purposes. Surface water in Colorado carries its own rules; the StreamStats report in the document room is the starting point for a water-rights conversation.
Five studied building sites
The siting work has already been done
- 1Primary graded pad on the bench — best access, widest outlook.
- 2Slightly above the pad, tucked into timber for wind shelter.
- 3Mid-slope shelf with the longest down-valley view.
- 4Upper site, most private, longest driveway run.
- 5Lower site on the Humming Bird claim, shortest run to the county road.
Next: how water gets to the house and how you get to the land.
Water & access →Parcel geometry traced from the owner's recorded survey for 333 Van Eden Rd, Idaho Springs, CO 80452. Shown for orientation only — verify boundaries with the survey and Clear Creek County, Colorado.