2022-12-03 09:51:11
Follow the path to Cripple Creek, which came to life when the hills beckoned fortune-seekers. Get a hands-on look at the Gold Rush era with a mine tour of Mollie Kathleen, where you’ll don a hard hat and descend 1,000 feet to see a vein of gold and ride in a mine cart. Hop on the historical Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad (May–Oct.) through the gold-mining district. Visits to the Cripple Creek Heritage Center and the Cripple Creek District Museum are forays into the past, as is the Gold Camp Historical Trolley Tour. Hikers head for the trails in the Gold Camp, as well, taking in views and old mining structures along the way. Stroll Bennett Avenue’s nostalgic pathway, shops, restaurants like Gold Camp Cafe and more. Join today’s fortune-seekers at betting tables in nine casinos. Then, take your winnings to the historic Butte Theater for a drama-filled treat, and snap pics of the town’s resident donkey herd. The drive from Cripple Creek to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument — a 35-million-year-old lake bed filled with insects, leaves and huge redwoods frozen in time — is a beautiful leg of the Gold Belt Tour, a National Scenic Byway. If you happen to be staying in Colorado Springs, Pueblo or Woodland Park, the Ramblin Express shuttle runs up to Cripple Creek each day.
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