With a number of high-end technology companies based out of the Centennial State, there is no arguing that Colorado holds a prominent key to the future. However, Colorado is not only looking toward the future, but also holds your ticket to the past with several historic sites, homes and beautifully maintained ruins such as:

1. The Mount Evans Crest House

"The Mount Evans Crest House, located at the terminus of the Mount Evans Scenic Byway at the summit of Mount Evans, was constructed between 1940 and 1941 by contractor Justus 'Gus' Roehling... It originally served as a restaurant, gift shop, and tourist attraction, making it the highest business structure in the United States, until it was partially destroyed in a fire in 1979. Its ruins have since been partially reconstructed."

2. Mesa Verde

Created by the Ancestral Pueblo nearly 700 years ago, Mesa Verde National Park is home to 5,000 known archeological sites and 600 cliff dwellings. Mesa Verde is considered to be one of the most notable and best preserved Ancestral Puebloan archeological sites in the country.

3. Tomboy

Once a thriving mining town, Tomboy is now deserted and forgotten, with only a few abandoned buildings and ruins left to tell its tale.

4. Camp Hale

A few of America's finest were trained within the (once) walls of old Camp Hale. Today, all that remains from the WWII training facility are a series of concrete blocks.

5. Chimney Rock

"Chimney Rock is an archaeological area that was home to the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians 1,000 years ago."

6. Redstone Coke Oven Historic District

Talk about a nice kitchen; the old Redstone Coke Oven Historic District was constructed in 1899 during a spike in the region’s smelting industry.

7. A door to nowhere near Central City...

8. Mere memories of Leadville's prime:

9. Mount Falcon Park

Castle walls built for a king (or at least the POTUS, as was originally intended by builder John Brisben Walker). Sadly, these early 20th-century dreams never came to surface, and all that remains are these ruins at Mount Falcon Park.

What other ruins have you discovered throughout Colorado? Let us know in the comments!