South Central Region
Molly Kathleen Gold Mine Tour, Cripple Creek, CO

The Molly Kathleen gold mine was once acclaimed by Reader's Digest as the best tour for visitors to take in the United States, and for good reason. This historic gold mine, overlooking the gold- & silver-mining town of Cripple Creek, is on the highway leading into the old mining district, and gives visitors an amazing glimpse into the lives, times, and technology of Colorado's famed gold rush over 100 years ago.

Cripple Creek and nearby Victor sit atop the richest known gold fields known in the world. The "Pikes Peak Or Bust" of 1859 culminated here when gold was discovered in 1891; the 6-by-4 mile area of Cripple Creek produced 18 million ounces of gold in the first decade or so, more than the entire amount found in the California and Alaska gold rushes combined.

Today as travellers top the final hill on Colorado 67 before the highway winds down into Cripple Creek, the Molly Kathleen is on the left. It doesn't look like much from the road, just a few old, small buildings, a gift shop, and a wooden tower, but just as in the gold rush days, the real treasure is underground; this is the world's only "vertical shaft" gold mine tour.

The wooden tower is the "mine header" structure, where the tour starts. The guides, who are authentic miners, load visitors into two small, rusty cages suspended on a metal cable & winch from that wooden tower. Then the cages then drop over 1,000 feet underground into the mining tunnels.

This entire district is honeycombed with over 2000 miles of interconnected tunnels, marked on the surface only by piles of rubble, rock tailings and wood wreckage from the old mines.

In September of 1891, Molly Kathleen was on a prospecting trip with her husband and son, looking for signs of gold ore on the surface. As Molly sat resting on a rock, she saw clear quartz outcroppings riddled with pure gold in the rock around her, and one of the richer mining claims in Cripple Creek was born; that quartz was the tip-off of a gold vein extending deep underground. Molly hid samples in her dress from the prying eyes of other adventurers in the area, and marched into town to stake her claim--the first claim filed by a woman, and it took her pluckiness to pull it off.

Today as tour-takers step off those metal cages 1000 feet beneath that spot, a nearby horizontal tunnel connects with the Gold King Mine 300 feet away. The Gold King was established by Bob Womack, who made the first gold discovery in Cripple Creek. Over 100 different routes through those tunnels can be taken to reach mines under the town of Victor, several miles away.

The tour follows tracks laid down for the old rail-cars through a labyrinth of narrow passages, large rooms, railcar switching stations, and exhibits showing the various steps in hard-rock mining for gold ore. These displays show the evolution of mining technology from the old pick-axe days through development of drills driven by compressed air, and nitro-glycerine & dynamite blasting techniques.

The stories & descriptions of the tour guides are colorful and loaded with information. Visitors should be prepared for a fascinating glimpse into this rich time of Colorado's history.

The tunnels of the Molly Kathleen followed seven different veins of rich gold ore through the earth. One that was thought to have been "played out" recently was found to extend still further through the bedrock, and is still actively mined in winter when the tours aren't running.

Close to the end of the tour, visitors take a ride on those railcars, then visit a section with wall displays about the most famous millionares from the district, and the mines that made them rich. Some of these men and women were the richest people in the world. A sample of gold ore is given to each visitor, some with gold visibly sparkling from the rock.

Back on the surface, behind the gift shop, is an outdoor display of old historic mining machinery and equipment. The gift shop offers samples of mineral and crystal, some rough, some polished; souvenirs, gifts, books about the colorful history of the area & about mining, and more.

Nearby Cripple Creek today is one of three towns in Colorado with limited stakes gambling, and many visitors come for the casinos. The careful visitor will find many historic gems here, including the hookers museum and the mining museum.