Take a 45 minute drive southwest of Colorado Springs and you will get to the Cripple Creek area. This was the single largest gold strike in the entire state of Colorado producing nearly 20 million ounces of gold from discover through the mid-1900s.
There is still plenty of gold here to be found. The earliest mining activity in this area was primarily placers, but later years saw significant hard rock mining.
There is now a huge open pit mining operation that sits between Victor and Cripple Creek. Telluride ores require special processing to extract the gold from ore, which is a process not possible for the average prospector.
Molly Kathleen Mine Tour
You can tour one of the old working mines in the Cripple Creek area on a guided tour of the Molly Kathleen Mine. You will descend 1000 feet into the ground, where you will get a feeling of what it was like to extract ore from this old Colorado mine.
This does require you to go underground so claustrophobic people probably won’t do well on this tour. It only operates during the summer months, so be sure to check with the mine directly to makes sure they are open.
Victor Gold Mine
For a completely different experience, you can take a tour of the Victor Gold Mine. Unlike most mine tours that are underground abandoned workings, this is an active operating gold mine. In fact, it is the largest active gold mine in the state.
Rather than tunneling in the ground, this is an exposed open-pit operation. Huge mining rigs are processing tons and tons of ore with each truckload. The ores mined here are considered low-grade, which means that massive quantities need to be processed in order to recover the gold profitably.
Cripple Creek District Museum
This museum has accumulated some exceptional relics from the early days when Cripple Creek was still a growing mining camp. Anything related to the early history of the area can be found here. Expect to see early photos, mineral samples, relics, artifacts and gold on display.
The original assay office is now on the museum grounds. Just imagine all the gold that was examined and processed in that building!
Gold Panning
There is still plenty of gold in the surrounding area. Cripple Creek (the creek itself) certainly still has some gold, but access is going to be challenging. Much of the surrounding federally managed land in the area is heavily claimed by Newmont and others. You can do a little bit of gold panning on county-owned land, but always be aware of private property.
There are other mine tours to consider if you want to take the kids along to do some panning. You can go visit the Argo Mill in Idaho Springs. The nearby Clear Creek Canyon is a good spot to prospect. The Hidee Mine in Central City is another place where you can explore underground and then do so panning.
Colorado has an abundance of areas for casual prospecting activity, probably more than any other state. And don’t forget that there are several interesting tourist related areas in Colorado Springs itself.
One is the Western Museum of Mining & Industry. This is a great place to learn about the mining industry and the processes involved in the extraction of precious metals. You can also try a bit of panning here.
Another is the Ghost Town Museum, which is a recreation of an early mining camp. There is another opportunity for kids to pan for gold here.