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Black Hawk, Colorado
Welcome to Black Hawk, Colorado. The City of Black Hawk is a town of heavy-set men in snake skin roach killers, cocktail waitresses in short, black mini-skirts, and a hope—a hope that you might win it big. Despite Black Hawk's 22 casinos (which is more than Atlantic City), the town lacks the neon glow that characterizes its bigger-than-life counterparts, Reno, Las Vegas of the boats in Kansas City. Instead, it has something very Colorado: cowboys.
From Denver, the drive to this 232-person mountain town is under an hour, and takes you west on I-70. Black Hawk is also a convenient half hour from Georgetown, about an hour from Boulder and 25 minutes from beautiful Golden Gate Canyon State Park.
Those who live in Black Hawk, one of Colorado's oldest cities, are endowed with a responsibility: to preserve the town's estimable past. The City Planning Office, with due consideration for these recently devised a new slogan: Preserving the Past. Protecting the Future. Still Making History.” Many of the town's historic building have undergone gentrification, allowing them to maintain the rustic aesthetics of a mountain town without the patina of age.
When visiting Black Hawk, overnight travelers may stay at either Isle of the Capri casino, or a handful of bed & breakfasts and lodges. Once a year, during the Back Hawk Mother Load Bulls & Broncs, the town is swarmed by visitors from all reaches, because anyone can come—it's free. The two-day event held at Gilpin County Fair Grounds was conceived by the City of Black Hawk as a thanks to their residents for being so darn sweet. Apparently, bull-riding, a chili cook-off and tons of vendors was the best way to say it.
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