What the record shows
The federal survey describes the site: mining site
"Most recently owned by the Clemens family the town was home to several hundred at its peak during the Colorado gold rush. Name origin is unknown. One version states ""Documents from the Gilpin Cty Historical Society say the town was named for miners who couldn't decide their next move . . . Let's postpone this business till we're more wide awake. Another version has a disgusted miner, after several meetings, chastising his colleagues: 'we'll call one more meeting on this business, and you'd better be wide awake.'"""
Wideawakeappears in the U.S. Geological Survey's place-name archive as a historical populated place — a settlement that once carried a name and no longer does. Our editors are verifying its full story against census records, newspaper archives, and county histories; this record will grow as sources are confirmed.
Before you visit
Unverified sites may sit on private land, and coordinates from historical records can be imprecise. Verify land status and access before traveling. Take photographs, leave nails — removing artifacts from federal land is a crime.
See it in context on the national atlas map.
From the field
The most valuable part of this record is the part only visitors can write.
Stamp your passport
Check in at Wideawake — GPS-verified visits earn an inked stamp.
File a field report
Road conditions, what's still standing, what's gone — your report joins the record.
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Credited, dated, and preserved as part of Wideawake's permanent record.
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