Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The gold mines near Cripple Creek made it a boom town in the 1890s, complete with three stock exchanges. Today visit-
ors go for the charm, history, and rolling alpine landscape.
4. Cripple Creek
Oneofthebestthingsaboutthismountaintownisgettingthere—adriveonRte.67running
parallel to the mountains of Pike National Forest. The slopes support scattered stands of
aspens and spruces, and above the timberline, rolling alpine tundra is dotted with forget-
me-nots, dwarf columbines, lilies, and other summer wildflowers.
As precious to some as the views were the gold mines near Cripple Creek, where one
of the richest claims in American history was filed in 1890. At the height of the boom, this
was a small city—home to a population of about 16,000—and an important financial cen-
ter,complete withthreestockexchanges.Present-dayvisitorsforachangeofpacecanride
an early narrow-gauge train, the Cripple Creek & Victor Railroad, which curls past dozens
of old, abandoned mines.
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