Historic Crystal Park

The purpose of this blog is to put historical photos, documents and information regarding Crystal Park on the web for the enjoyment and education of Crystal Park residents and other interested parties. Present-day Crystal Park is a 2000 acre gated mountain community located above Manitou Springs, Colorado. In prior times, Crystal Park was a well-known tourist attraction; now, it's a beautiful place to live. Click on "Older Posts" to see all the information and photos. Click on the photos.

Monday, June 20, 2016

Burro Trip in 1895

This is a photo taken from a "Magic Lantern" slide of a group of tourists on burros (and a few mules) who had traveled to Crystal Park, presumably from Manitou, on August 14, 1895. The photo was taken near the present-day lake, looking towards the slope of Sunrise Peak. John Hay's cabin is in the background. Some of the large rocks are recognizable today, although the lens causes some distortion of perspective.
There were a number of livery stables that ran such trips from Manitou to Crystal Park, as well as to the top of Pikes Peak and other destinations. These continued to operate even after the Crystal Park Auto Road Packard touring car trips began in 1910, maybe as a factor of price...the Auto Road trips were $2.50 and the burro trips $1.00, quite a difference at that time.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Crystal Park Burro Trip

This is a follow up to a post from March, 2012 about burro trips to Crystal Park. This photo postcard, postmarked August 21, 1915, was recently found online, showing five people on burros with a price board listing the cost of various burro trips. The trip to Crystal Park cost $1.00.

As always, click on images to enlarge.