Gold Camp Road

A narrow, unpaved road that climbs 4,000 feet from Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek, following the route of the former Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway. Features three tunnels, one of which has collapsed.

Gold Camp Road is a thirty-two-mile route that winds through North Cheyenne Canyon southwest of Colorado Springs, following the path of the old Short Line Railroad that connected the city to the Cripple Creek gold mining district. The railroad was built in the 1880s during the height of the gold rush, and when it was decommissioned, the route was converted into a highway in 1924. Three railroad tunnels remain along the road, though Tunnel 3 collapsed in 1988 and has been closed ever since. It is this collapsed tunnel and the legend surrounding it that has made Gold Camp Road one of the most famous haunted roads in Colorado.

According to the most widely told version of the story, a school bus full of children was driving through one of the tunnels when it collapsed, killing the driver and every child on board. Variations on the legend include a suicidal bus driver who intentionally drove into the collapsing tunnel and a version where an oncoming train caused the disaster. However, there are no newspaper reports, death records, or any historical documentation of a school bus accident at Gold Camp Road. The tunnel collapsed on its own in 1988 after structural supports gave way, and no one was inside at the time. Despite the legend being entirely apocryphal, the paranormal reports that have grown up around it are remarkably consistent.

Visitors who park near the tunnels at night report hearing children's laughter echoing from inside the collapsed structure. Those who drive close enough to the remaining open tunnels have found tiny handprints appearing in the fog and condensation on their car windows, as if small hands were pressing against the glass from outside. The most unsettling report involves the apparition of a dark figure seen inside Tunnel 2, walking back and forth in the darkness. According to multiple accounts, if a car stops inside the tunnel, this figure will push the vehicle slowly out from behind. Some visitors have put their cars in neutral near the tunnels and reported feeling the car being pushed uphill by unseen hands, a phenomenon similar to the famous "gravity hill" legends found elsewhere in the country.

The road itself adds to the atmosphere -- it is narrow, unpaved in many stretches, and flanked by steep drop-offs with no guardrails. Several of the old railroad bridges along the route are deteriorating, and the collapsed Tunnel 3 stands as a dark, gaping hole blocked by boulders. The combination of genuine danger, remote mountain isolation, and the persistent legend of the dead children has made Gold Camp Road a rite of passage for Colorado Springs teenagers and paranormal enthusiasts alike.