Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Gold Belt Tour
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Mileage: 131 miles
Why Go?
Explore old mining haunts, petrified tree stumps (they're cooler than you think), the Royal
Gorge, dinosaur footprints and galleries. In between you'll glimpse a long and wide moun-
tain plateau with all the country romance of a Willie Nelson tune.
The Route
From Colorado Springs, take Hwy 24 past Pikes Peak and Manitou Springs into the high
country, where you'll find Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. The entire area was
once buried beneath ancient volcanic ash. A nature trail leads past sequoia-sized petrified
stumps, and the surrounding countryside is special, too. While you're here consider stop-
ping by the 1878 homestead, the Hornbeck House.
Between 1891 and 2005 more than 23.5 million ounces of gold were pulled from this
mountain corridor. That's more gold than was ever found during the California and Alaska
gold rushes combined! Most of the gold was mined in the twin cities of Cripple Creek and
Victor. Both have seen better days. Cripple Creek is now a low-rent gambling destination
with a strip mine still active above town, but the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge
Railroad is a treat. This 45-minute tour leads to Victor and back and includes many an old
mining yarn. The views are marvelous. Cripple Creek also offers tours through an actual
underground mine and a unique jailhouse museum.
From here you can travel south through the high-country meadows ringed with moun-
tains along High Park Rd, which leads to Hwy 50, and the stunning Royal Gorge. The Roy-
al Gorge Bridge & Park has historic kitsch and incredibly impressive views. Or you could
take the slow journey along the graded Shelf Rd, a one-time stagecoach route. There is
some fantastic rock climbing in the area, and it's also where you'll find the Garden Park
Fossil Area, which once gave the world five new dinosaur species. Cañon City has some
charm in its own right, along with easily arranged train and raft tours of the gorge.
