Big Hole. Big Trucks. Big Gold. ⛏️😆

Just outside Cripple Creek is the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine, and “huge” doesn’t even begin to describe it. This massive open-pit mine is Colorado’s largest active gold mine and looks like someone took an ice cream scoop to a mountain.

From the overlook, the giant haul trucks looked like Matchbox cars crawling around the terraced pit. It’s hard to believe this area was the center of Colorado’s last great gold rush, drawing thousands of hopeful miners in the 1890s.

Fun fact: the mine sits inside an ancient volcano—the same geology that helped create one of the richest gold-producing regions in the world.

We stared at a giant hole in the ground for quite a while… and honestly, it was pretty impressive. 😄⛏️💰Read more