Colorado's Once-Thriving Mining Town Now Has A Unique Disc Golf Course Under An Hour From Denver

Colorado is full of old mining towns. Some, like Leadville, are still bustling destinations with lively bars and restaurants. Others, like Animas Forks, have been reclaimed by wildlife and can only be reached by a 4x4. Somewhere in between "a thriving landmark" and "a patch of forgotten old buildings" lies Russell Gulch, just outside of Central City, and around an hour up the mountains from Denver. The mix of crumbling buildings and fixed up old houses is now home to the unique and challenging Ghost Town Disc Golf course.

Once gold was discovered in the area in 1859, the town quickly became home to around 2,600 people by the next year. The town had multiple mills operating within the region, a school, and a lodge for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Around the same time, nearby Central City was known as the "richest square mile on earth" despite the fact that Russell Gulch had over a third of the working mines in the county. For about 25 years the gold mines around the town produced wealth. Once the majority of the gold was extracted, the town quickly shrunk.

Russell Gulch dropped down to a population of abandoned gold rush ghost town worth seeking out. By 1941 it was referred to as a ghost mining town. It was a familiar arc across the Rockies — boom, extraction, abandonment — and Russell Gulch is one of many abandoned gold rush ghost town worth seeking out. It remained desolate until filmmaker, painter, and disc golfer Brian O'Donnell and his wife, fellow disc golfer Beth, purchased property there in 1999. Brian had lived in the area in the early 1970s before moving to South Carolina. He learned to play while in Colorado, and helped to establish the course in nearby Nederland, the quirky town just outside of Boulder, as well as a course in Charleston. After selling their home in South Carolina to follow the band Donna the Buffalo, Brian and Beth found themselves in Colorado, looking for a place to buy land and build a personal disc golf course.

The couple had no intention to create a public course. They only wanted a fun place where they could set up a course for them to play with friends and family. It wasn't until 2003 when they encountered a pay-to-play course on a trip to Maine that the couple decided to open up their course and charge a fee.

The course is 20 holes and costs $10 for one round, or $15 to play two rounds. Steep, wooded terrain above the ghost town characterizes the first stretch of holes. Then you come back around into the gulch for the latter stretch. Once you're out of the woods you play in the old mining town. Crumbling buildings surround the baskets. On some holes you have to aim between walls or through empty windows.

The course is less than an hour from downtown Denver. Take I-70 to the Hidden Valley/Central City Parkway exit. Turn left onto Lake Gulch Rd., left onto Virginia Canyon Rd., then left onto Russell Gulch Rd. The course will be on the right about half a mile down. If your GPS tries to take you up York Gulch Rd., ignore it. That route is not passable. However you get there, Russell Gulch is worth a visit. Where else can you play a round or two of disc golf at a ghost town in the middle of nowhere, and then finish your day with a Michelin-starred omakase experience in the city?

As this is on private land, a reservation to play is necessary -– walk-ins are discouraged. You can keep up to date on the course through its Facebook page. There you'll find a phone number to call to reserve a tee time.