Foothills
Teller County
17 Porch Notes tied to Teller County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Money and taxes (1)
Water and land (2)
Water and land
Crystal Peak: a world-famous home for blue-green amazonite
The Crystal Peak area between Woodland Park and Lake George is known worldwide for amazonite and smoky quartz, with much of the prime ground held as private or claimed land you'll want to confirm before digging.
Read note ->Water and land
On a Teller County mountain lot, your water often starts with a well permit
Many rural Teller County properties rely on a private well, and in Colorado a well needs a permit from the state with limits on how the water can be used.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (6)
Outdoors and wildfire
At Florissant Fossil Beds, the fossils stay where they are
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Teller County protects ancient fossils and petrified stumps, and collecting or removing them there is not allowed.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Manitou Lake: fishing yes, swimming no
Manitou Lake north of Woodland Park is a small Pike National Forest reservoir popular for family fishing, but body contact with the water is not allowed and a Colorado fishing license is required.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Mueller State Park: elk, bears, and Pikes Peak granite
Mueller State Park west of Pikes Peak in Teller County is a watchable-wildlife park of meadows, granite, and miles of trails, with state-park pass and fishing rules to know before you go.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Pike National Forest camping in Teller County has rules by district
Much of Teller County borders Pike National Forest, where dispersed camping and campfires follow Forest Service rules that vary by ranger district and season.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Teller County is black bear country, and trash is the trigger
The forests around Woodland Park, Divide, and Florissant are black bear habitat, and securing trash, bird feeders, and food is the main way to keep bears wild and out of trouble.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Crags Trail: Teller County's granite window onto Pikes Peak
A short, family-friendly hike from Crags Campground near Divide threads granite spires below Pikes Peak, and the same trailhead launches the strenuous back route toward the summit.
Read note ->Cars and driving (1)
Local rules (2)
Local rules
Teller County has two separate school districts, and one runs a four-day week
Teller County is split between school districts, with the small Cripple Creek-Victor district serving the southern gold towns and using a four-day school week.
Read note ->Local rules
Woodland Park is a home-rule city, so it writes more of its own rules
Woodland Park is a home-rule municipality, which lets it set more of its own local rules than a statutory town and means its code can differ from county and other-town rules.
Read note ->History and culture (5)
History and culture
Cripple Creek's brick downtown was rebuilt after the 1896 fires
Two 1896 fires destroyed Cripple Creek's wooden business district, and the brick-and-stone Bennett Avenue you see today is the rebuild, now a National Historic Landmark.
Read note ->History and culture
Cripple Creek's Coal-Fired Steam Train and the Mine Below It
A coal-fired narrow gauge steam train still loops past Cripple Creek's old mines, and a real gold shaft sits just up the road.
Read note ->History and culture
Florissant was a ranching settlement before it was a fossil park
The Florissant valley was settled by ranchers and homesteaders in the 1870s, and the restored Hornbek Homestead inside the national monument preserves that story.
Read note ->History and culture
The wild donkeys that wander Cripple Creek all summer
A small herd of free-roaming donkeys, tied to Cripple Creek's gold-mining past, walks the town's streets each summer under the care of the Two Mile High Club.
Read note ->History and culture
Victor: the gold district's quieter, lived-in twin
A few miles from Cripple Creek, Victor is a walkable 1890s gold-boom town where brick streets, Lowell Thomas's hometown museum, and an overlook onto old and modern mining still tell the story.
Read note ->