Sometimes the best getaways are the ones that don’t require much planning, or much time.
We recently took the RV up to Central City, Colorado, for a quick mountain escape. It’s close enough to home that it doesn’t feel like a major expedition, but once you’re surrounded by the mountains, the pine trees, and the old mining towns, it feels like you’ve gotten much farther away.
We arrived at the KOA Holiday campground, got the RV settled in, and then headed into town for dinner at Monarch Casino. We’re not big gamblers, but we enjoy the atmosphere of a casino now and then, the lights, the people, the energy, and the little bit of excitement that comes with wandering around a casino floor. We had dinner, enjoyed the evening, and then headed back to camp.
Beer Festival Saturday
The next morning started with what I like to call a nutritious camping breakfast: a mimosa and a high-protein strawberry yogurt. Balance, right?
After breakfast, we headed into town for the Great Central City Beer Festival. It turned out to be a really fun way to spend the afternoon. We sampled quite a few beers from local breweries and eventually had to make the very important decision of voting for our favorite.
The winner for us was a chocolate and cherry chocolate stout. It was rich, decadent, and tasted almost more like dessert than beer. Definitely not an everyday beer, but absolutely one worth remembering.
Central City itself is a fun little mountain town with its historic buildings, casinos, and remnants of its mining-town past. There aren’t a ton of restaurant choices, and honestly, our dinner that evening wasn’t anything worth writing home about. But sometimes the food isn’t really the point. Sitting outside on a patio, surrounded by mountains, with a cocktail in your hand? That’s pretty satisfying all by itself.
Taking the Backroads
On our last full day, we decided to get out of town and do what Colorado does best: explore the backroads.
We headed out off-roading toward Yankee Hill and Mosquito Creek, eventually making our way toward Kingston Peak. The scenery was beautiful, and there’s something about getting away from the pavement and into the mountains that makes a trip feel like an adventure.
But somewhere along the way, we stumbled upon something we hadn’t planned on seeing at all: Bald Mountain Cemetery.
And that unexpected discovery ended up being the highlight of the entire trip.
A Walk Through Colorado’s Past
Bald Mountain Cemetery is one of those places that makes you stop and slow down. Tucked into the mountains near the old mining communities, the cemetery is a reminder of the people who came to Colorado during the mining era and built lives in what was then a rugged and isolated landscape.
What caught my attention immediately were the beautiful old marble headstones. Some date back to the late 1800s, placing them among the earliest generations of people connected to the area’s mining communities. The cemetery is part of a landscape shaped by Colorado’s nineteenth-century gold-mining boom, when Central City and the surrounding mountains attracted people from all over the country and from around the world looking for opportunity.
Walking among the graves, reading the names and dates, and seeing the weathered stones was unexpectedly moving. These weren’t just names from Colorado history anymore. They were people who lived here, worked here, loved people, raised families, struggled, and ultimately became part of the history of these mountains.
There was something incredibly peaceful about being there.
After spending some time wandering through the cemetery and taking in the history, we continued our off-road adventure toward Kingston Peak.
It was one of those moments that reminded me why I love exploring Colorado. You can set out with one destination in mind and end up discovering something completely unexpected—and sometimes that unexpected place becomes the memory you take home with you.
We finished the day with dinner in Idaho Springs before heading back to the campground to settle in and prepare for our departure the following morning.
A Little Getaway Close to Home
The next morning, we packed up the RV and headed home.
It was a short trip, but it had everything we needed: mountain scenery, a little casino fun, good beer, cocktails on a patio, some off-road adventure, and an unexpected encounter with a piece of Colorado history.
And perhaps that’s what I enjoyed most about this trip. We didn’t have to go far to feel like we had escaped for a while.
Sometimes a quick getaway is exactly what you need, a few days in the mountains, a little exploring, and enough time to breathe, relax, laugh, and appreciate where you are.
Central City gave us all of that.
And a 1800s cemetery we never even knew we were going to find?
Well, that’s the kind of travel surprise that makes a trip memorable.