Interactive map: Where to see yellow aspens, fall foliage in Colorado thedenverchannel.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thedenverchannel.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Take a look inside the updated cog railway in Manitou Springs. After three years of renovations, the cog is once again open just in time for summer. (Video by Skyler Ballard)
This summer’s revival of The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway previously feared lost in the face of a major overhaul represents the gritty persistence of Colorado’s scenic trains.
They refuse to fade since their frontier births. Where many once connected commerce in the West, now they stir nostalgic imaginations.
Here’s a look at some options:
Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad (adult fares $15, cripplecreekrailroad.com)
Cripple Creek has always had the allure of riches, first as a gold mining town and now as a gambling haven.
Cripple Creek came to life after cowboy Bob Womack discovered gold in Poverty Gulch in 1890. Located at a lofty 9,500 foot elevation, 87 miles north of Pueblo, Cripple Creek and its neighboring town of Victor once boasted 500 mines that produced more than 22 million ounces of gold.
Cripple Creek was named a National Historic Landmark in 1961. But it’s historic buildings did not receive a boost until Colorado voters approved limited stakes gambling in 1991 and Cripple Creek experienced a revival.
As a result, gambling revenues generated funds that have gone into painstaking restoration of the Victorian-era buildings along Bennett Avenue, many of which house the city’s nine casinos.