Cripple Creek

One of Colorado's three legalized gambling towns, Cripple Creek once had the most lucrative mines in the state—and 10,000 boozing, brawling, bawdy citizens. Today the old-timey main street is lined with casinos housed in quaint Victorian buildings. Outside the central area, old mining structures and the stupendous curtain of the Collegiate Peaks are marred by slag heaps and parking lots.