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Road Trip: Black Hawk and Central City draw historians and high rollers

Kim Fuller
Special to the Daily
The entrance to Central City is located just outside of downtown Black Hawk. The small town was a big part of Gold Rush era of the 1800s.
Kim Fuller | Special to the Daily

IF YOU GO

Where: The Lodge Casino, 240 Main St., Black Hawk, Colo., 80422. 52 miles from Frisco, approximately a one-hour drive.

When: Hotel check-in time, 3 p.m. Dinner at The White Buffalo Grille available from 5 p.m., reservations are suggested.

Cost: Room rates start at $109 per night with a Winner’s Club Card.

More information: visit The Lodge Casino website at http://thelodgecasino.com/, or call (303) 582-1771.

Where: Central City Visitors Center—103 Eureka St., Central City, Colo., 80427. Two miles up from Black Hawk (drive your car or take a shuttle).

When: Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; historic tours take about an hour and run from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. (no tours on Mondays).

Cost: $6 per tour.

More Information: visit http://www.centralcitycolorado.us/, or call (303) 582-3345.

The wall of windows surrounding the dining room of the White Buffalo Grille showcases the sparkling lights of Colorado’s little Las Vegas.

A lump crab cakes appetizer accompanies a freshly opened bottle of Cotes du Rhone — a robust red ready to stand up to the rich and tender flavors of the steak house in The Lodge Casino, Black Hawk.

“We’re 20 minutes outside of Golden nestled in a little canyon in the Rocky Mountains,” said JJ Garcia, general manager of The Lodge Casino. “Unlike so many gaming areas, this is a little mining town that kinda went boom.”



Black Hawk, “The City of Mills,” is one of Colorado’s oldest settlements. Gold was discovered in the area in the mid-1800s, and thousands of would-be miners came to the area hoping to strike it rich.

More than 150 years later, modern mining in the area looks more like slot machines and blackjack tables. Gambling was legalized in 1991, and the area has since become a mountain anomaly — pairing historic buildings next to high-rise hotels.



“There are a lot of unique buildings and we still give a lot of attribution to the mining town,” Garcia explained.

The Lodge Casino’s sister establishment, The Gilpin Hotel Casino, holds substantial local history, and the original building now houses murals documenting stories of ghosts and gold.

“Entering yet another century, Black Hawk faces the prospect of trying to sustain and survive yet another boom period,” states the City of Black Hawk website. “The opportunities are there for those who will respect its rich heritage, while at the same time welcoming its unlimited future with the spirit of adventure that brought forth those ambitious miners and merchants of the 1800s.”

Those who travel up the mountain canyon looking to strike it rich will see how the stories of the city merge into one; penny pinchers and high rollers alike will find a place to mine their own hopeful riches.

“We have a little bit of something for everyone here — from penny to $100 slots. Whatever your budget, we are able to cater to that budget,” Garcia said.

Just as the gold was hidden throughout miles of Colorado mountains, visitors will find that they can settle into a place of comfort and ease.

“Once you get up here, you realize that every place has the same tables and the same games,” Garcia said. “But what we pride ourselves in at The Lodge Casino and our hotel is our hospitality and customer service standards.”

The establishment is nestled against the side of a canyon wall and just down the street from original brick buildings, and it’s the perfect representation of how the small town is writing a new portion of its history.

“And if the past is but prologue,” the city’s website concludes. “Black Hawk’s full story, yet to be told, will be a fascinating one indeed.”

Richly Rooted

Less than 3 miles from booming Black Hawk is the neighboring town of Central City. The small mining town has been able to keep the classic “Old West” charm of its historic downtown, with only a couple of larger casinos that have been built on the periphery.

Access the area from the winding Highway 119 strip from Golden through Black Hawk, or the 8½-mile Central City Parkway located just east of Idaho Springs.

Virginia Canyon, known as “Oh-My-God Road,” is another access point in and out of Gilpin County known by locals, and it was the original wagon road used by miners to access area settlements beginning in 1859 during the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush.

Central City was known during the mining days as “The Richest Square Mile on Earth,” and the small town is now frequented by history buffs and low-profile gamblers.

Darla Larson, born in Denver and a current resident of Centennial, Colo., has been a tour guide in Central City for 10 years. She became a member of the Gilpin Historical Society after visiting the area and acquiring her grandfather’s memoirs.

“My grandfather came here from Brooklyn, New York, by wagon train in 1865,” Larson explained. “He mined here for 45 years, and Daddy went to work in the mines when he was 12.”

Larson said she drives Oh-My-God Road often and thinks of her grandfather’s travels to Central City and her family’s heritage in the 19th century.

“I go home on that road wishing I could bring back my grandfather and my parents,” she explained. “Everybody worked so hard to give us a better life.”

The area has seen its share of highs and lows, but a severe town fire in 1874 and the end of the gold rush in the late 1800s seemed to be only setbacks. The classic main street is now shared by local business, including small casinos, gift shops, a bar and pizza shop, an Elks Lodge and a coffee and tea café.

“We have a nice balance because families can come and enjoy picnic tables and a playground up on the hill, and they can come enjoy our historical tours,” Larson said. “Accompanied children are welcome to walk through to dining areas in all the casinos, except Johnny Z’s.”

Tours of the Central City Opera House and the Teller House hotel are offered daily, as well as a “Walk Through a House in Time” tour. Be sure to visit the local art gallery, just a few doors up from the visitor center on Eureka St.

“I think the gambling helps with the historical element of the town because Central City has been really good to support the historical society and the art gallery,” Larson explained. “The town does offer a little bit of something for all ages.”

If you head out of town over the scenic Central City Parkway, take a short detour up to Nevadaville. Just a mile up the road, the remnants of an abandoned mining community are both peaceful and mysterious.

“Nevadaville is a ghost town,” Larson explained. “There are mines right by the road, and a really unique rock house on your left as you enter. All in all, there are maybe six or seven houses left out of what were about 200.”


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