Black Hawk CO

CO geocaching friends recommended a trip to Central City for the 4th of July. I had mentioned wanting to seeing fireworks as that is our tradition when at home. Neil and Marlene said the casinos in Central City pool money and put on quite a show. Oh, and there are some great cemetery caches, too. So that was the plan. Drive to Central City on the 4th of July.

There were two options to get to the old mining town. We chose Highway 119; a windy, scenic, BUSY, canyon road following Clear Creek. The thirty-five miles was very picturesque, with little opportunity to stop or pull-over on the narrow, busy road. Luckily, the four geocaches we did find were at intersections or pull-offs.

several tunnels

Clear Creek Canyon

Clear Creek

wildflowers

cacti

interesting road signs; no wildlife

more wildflowers

Then we reached Black Hawk. Three mining towns developed in the mid-1860s when gold was discovered in the area mountains. All three towns nearly died in the 1900s once the mining was depleted and the people left. Those who stayed decided to begin the process of requesting legalized gambling. In 1991 a statewide referendum was passed allowing low-stakes gambling in three famous gold rush towns: Cripple Creek, Black Hawk, and Central City. This is my version of Black Hawk.

Black Hawk is known for its casinos

tall casinos

modern day casinos

Vegas-like casinos

building MORE casinos

18 casinos to be exact (or more by now)

a field of daisies

four caches on the road above the casinos

we didn't stick around the area

beautiful view of the mountains

a few of the buildings (maybe original?) in Black Hawk

reminds me of Lead & Deadwood SD

It was while we were driving around Black Hawk that we decided we would NOT stay for the fireworks. People were staking their areas on the mountain tops for best view advantage. Staying overnight in a casino was not appealing. Driving the canyon road in the dark was less appealing. We just were not impressed with Black Hawk. In fact, we decided not to spend a dime/dollar in any casino; just geocache and be on our way minus any fireworks.

That all changed when we got to Central City. That this the next blog.