Gold Camp Road, Colorado Springs, CO
12/01/2002

Found Online The Gold Camp Road was the original railroad route from Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek. In 1898, a right of way was issued to the Cripple Creek District Railway Company for a railroad, the construction of which was finished in 1901. Construction techniques used are now considered innovative for their time, thus there is a considerable historic value to the route. The railroad went bankrupt in 1919. It was converted to a private toll road (1924- 1930) for cars by bypassing the trestles and three of the nine tunnels used by the railroad. The county of El Paso was responsible for the road until 1948 when it deeded the right-of-way to the USFS, even though much of the road is not in national forest. It passes through city, park, county and private properties; these ownerships have 54 miles of common boundary with Forest Service land.

In July 1985, a heavy rainstorm caused four major washouts on the road, making it impassible. There was no money to do the necessary repairs, so the road was closed for two years. In the spring of 1987, Fort Carson donated the use of their equipment and personnel to do the necessary repairs. The road was open for the 1987 summer season, closed for the winter and open for the summer of 1988 until the collapse of Tunnel #3 in August, forcing the permanent closure of this 8.5 mile section of the road. The closure did not remove the opportunity for a scenic drive to Cripple Creek, however. The Old Stage Road is a county maintained road on the south side of the same canyon and meets the open section on Gold Camp Road 8 miles from the city.

Our Investigation I would NOT recommend speeding on this road. In the backcountry, it's a dirt road with sharp turns and blind curves. At times, there is only room enough for one vehicle. Most of the road has a very steep cliff going off of the edge. For these reasons, please please please be careful on this road. There doesn't need to be more ghosts out there.

We were on Gold Camp Road from 12pm – 12:30pm on December 1, 2002. The temp was about 50°F (10°C) but it was a lot colder in the tunnels due to the fact they see no sun. We stopped when we reached the first tunnel, getting out to take pictures. We felt invited into the tunnel, so we walked from one end to the other, taking pictures the whole way. If you take pictures in the tunnels with your flash on, you WILL get orbs. Only problem is all the orbs are is dust. Taking pictures with the flash off and getting a small amount of orbs on the other hand might be a different story. Talking in the tunnels created quite an echo. Both tunnels are a little spooky. Even with all the dust on the car from the dirt road, we found no little handprints. I'd like to go through these tunnels at night to see if anything is different.

Photo Link
(Click on photos to enlarge.)
http://www.xobic.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=goldcamproad