Cripple Creek Wild Donkey Herd

When the gold mines shut down around 1901, the miners just... left. Their pack burros stayed, and the descendants of those animals — a herd of 14-16 feral donkeys — still wander the streets, casino parking lots, and shop entrances of Cripple Creek to this day. A single volunteer nonprofit, the Two Mile High Club (founded 1931), releases them onto the streets every mid-May and rounds them back up every mid-October, so the whole town quietly shares its sidewalks with semi-wild animals for half the year. Most visitors come for the slot machines and never realize they're in the only gambling town in America where a donkey might block the entrance. The herd is a living footnote to Colorado's mining era, not a petting zoo or tourist installation — they go where they want.

The move: Time a visit around the 95th Annual Donkey Derby Days (June 26-28, 2026) on Bennett Avenue — watch teams race a donkey up the main street — then wander off-festival for the stranger, quieter experience of finding a donkey parked outside a casino at dusk.

• 📍 Cripple Creek
• 💸 Free
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Outdoors

Where: Bennett Avenue, Cripple Creek, CO 80813

Hours: Added 2026-06-09 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4

Verified 2026-06-09.