Phantom Canyon Road

A narrow, unpaved 30-mile road following the abandoned Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad grade from Victor to Florence. The road climbs 4,000 feet through mountain tunnels and passes abandoned mining camps and ghost town remnants.

Phantom Canyon Road is a thirty-mile route that winds through a narrow, dramatic gorge between Florence and Victor, following the path of the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad, a narrow-gauge line built in 1894 to connect the gold mines of the Cripple Creek district to the smelters and railroads of the Arkansas Valley. The railroad operated through some of the most rugged terrain in Colorado, passing through rock tunnels, over precarious bridges, and along canyon walls that dropped hundreds of feet to the creek below. Its final hours came on July 21, 1912, when a catastrophic flood washed out twelve bridges, five miles of track, and several small towns along the route. The tracks were eventually removed, and in 1918 the former railway bed was converted into a public road -- narrow, unpaved, and flanked by the same sheer drops that had made the railroad so dangerous.

The road's name itself comes from a chilling legend. During the railroad era, train passengers reported seeing a man walking along the tracks who had been executed at the Colorado State Prison in Canon City just days earlier. The ghostly figure appeared to pace the route between the prison and the gold fields, as if making one last journey. The legend gave the canyon its name, and the phantom has been part of local lore ever since.

During the gold mining heyday, the Cripple Creek district was rocked by violent labor disputes when mining companies tried to increase work days from eight to ten hours without raising wages. Miners went on strike, and the companies brought in non-union workers. The conflict escalated into gunfights, deliberate train derailments, and -- most horrifically -- mines that were purposely collapsed with workers still inside. Today, people believe that Phantom Canyon Road is haunted by the tormented spirits of those who lost their lives in the labor violence, the railroad disasters, and the countless mining accidents that claimed lives throughout the district.

Tourists driving the road have reported hearing eerie sounds echoing through the canyon -- voices, the rumble of phantom trains, and the sound of picks striking rock. The old railroad tunnels along the route are particularly unsettling, with some drivers reporting the sensation of a presence in their vehicle while passing through the darkened passages. The road itself adds to the atmosphere: it is barely one lane wide in places, with blind curves, sheer drop-offs, and no guardrails. Phantom Canyon Road is part of the Gold Belt Tour, a designated National Scenic Byway, and remains one of the most atmospheric drives in the American West.