Crescent Mining Camp

Cabin campers can escape the city — and escape modern day amenities — by staying at the fully rustic, historic Crescent Mining Camp cabins. The cabins offer a true old fashioned taste of life on the mine in the 19th century, with no electricity or running water. Visitors can focus on the sounds of nature and the incredible views of the Rocky Mountains from its creekside location. The mining camp was built in the 1890s during the boom of mining and milling in Clear Creek Canyon. Miners sought mostly gold and silver, and attracted about 50,000 residents in the valley that is now rather remote. The cabins are adjacent to a road heavily used by off-highway vehicles but have a private drive with a locking gate; Crescent Mining Camp is a good location for OHV enthusiasts, but not visitors seeking quiet and solitude. Off-road vehicle trails begin near the site of the cabins and hiking trailheads are within several miles. The most popular trails lead into the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness, which boasts nine mountain peaks over 14,000 feet. There are four cabins at Crescent, but only cabins 1 and 2 are available to rent, and the two cabins are rented together; one sleeps two, the other sleeps four. Visitors must bring furniture such as cots, portable tables and chairs; in addition, tent and RV camping is permitted for those who rent the site. No water, heat, electricity or trash service is provided, and guests should bring plenty of water — creek water may be boiled and treated for consumption. Other items to pack include a cook stove, bedding, food, lanterns, matches, cooking utensils, dish soap, firewood or an axe to collect it (dead and down trees only), and a first aid kit. Crescent Mining Camp is located within the Leadville Ranger District, which is home to the Sawatch Range, the highest mountain range in Colorado. These rugged, glaciated mountains form the crest of the Continental Divide, and Mount Elbert, at 14,443 feet, is Colorado's highest peak and one of 10 fourteeners located on the District. At an elevation of approximately 10,000 feet, Crescent Mining Camp sits at the base of Ervin Peak in Clear Creek Canyon, on the outskirts of the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness in the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains. Clear Creek passes near the cabins, and the Clear Creek Reservoir and the Arkansas River Valley are 9 miles east. The nearest spot for pay phones and a grocery store is in Buena Vista, about an hour's drive; visitors can head to Clear Creek Reservoir for fishing and boating, with fish species including brook trout, brown trout and tiger muskie, and a few miles further is the Arkansas River, in a section where whitewater rafting is popular.