Colorado Chronicles : Cripple Creek

One of the great things about Colorado is that it's loaded with small towns, since so much of the state's population lives in the Denver-Boulder area. I like that way. Small towns are my gig. Small towns such as Cripple Creek. Once in Cripple Creek, you'll be only about 45 miles southweast of Colorado Springs and a little over 100 miles from the Mile High City.
Like so many mountain towns in Colorado, Cripple Creek was once a booming mining spot. On October 20, 1890, Robert Womack "discovered a rich ore and the last great Colorado gold rush was on. Thousands of prospectors flocked to the region, and before long W. S. Stratton located the famous Independence lode, one of the largest gold strikes in history." (source: Wikipedia). This, too, would pass. On the verge of becoming a ghost town, the city rallied when the state of Colorado legalized gambling in Central City, Blackhawk and Cripple Creek  in 1991. Revenue from gaming and tourism has revitalized this former gold rush, almost-ghost town. Life is good 9400 feet plus in the Rockies, thanks to another kind of gold.