Like an ocean wave, my Facebook feed has been flooded with pictures of the photogenic Ice Castles, a pop-up attraction in Cripple Creek. The acre-large structure — built from cast icicles and sprayed water with embedded color LEDs — features ice slides, sculptures and wintry Instagram-ready beauty. It’s no surprise that it’s become a viral hit on social media.
Naturally, I had to go.
The Colorado site, one of four locations across the country created by the Utah-based Ice Castles, was previously based in Dillon — a two-and-a-half-hour trip by car past Denver in ski country.
But renovations at the host park and traffic concerns convinced the mountain town to pass on the attraction post-COVID, according to the Denver Gazette. Finding a home on the back side of Pikes Peak makes the trip a relatively easy hour from Manitou.
They take on an ethereal, auroral look.
Plus, I’d never been to Cripple Creek.
My girlfriend and I set out in the early afternoon with 4:30 p.m. tickets — you reserve a start time, but you can stay as long as you’d like. The drive up began with cloud cover as we approached the mountains, but cleared with bright skies as we made our way south into the historic mining area.
We arrived early, which gave us time to bundle up, but also tour the downtown and Bennett Avenue, which was devoid of people. It was so fascinating to finally experience the physical Brass Ass-Midnight Rose-J.P. McGill casinos after endless radio ads in my youth.
The presence of the Ice Castles is kinda baffling. The snow was light along the hills elsewhere and yet here was this walled lot with “castles” that reached 20 feet tall in spots with icy spires and overlapping structures to facilitate the slides.
It’s like setting a big ice cube out on its own and expecting it to survive the winter, yet here it was. They replenish the structure with 10,000 new icicles daily, per the posted signage. As a result, my girlfriend noted that the attraction was slightly different now than when she had previously visited.
Checking in was relatively easy — we also had to sign liability waivers that confirmed we wouldn’t lick the ice or sue if we get injured, among other things. Whatever, boring, sign sign sign.
Here’s a tip: dress warmer than you typically do. The castle blocks a lot of the wind, but it was still frigid. My girlfriend had the foresight to buy hand warmers and it was the first time I’d used them since I was a Boy Scout in the late 1990s. It was such a nostalgic thrill!
Stepping off the rubberized lining of the entrance onto the mushy snow floor of the icy castle, a forked entranceway lured us deeper into the structure. As a 6-foot-1-inch man, I had to quickly adapt as I bonked my head against inclining walls, chipping off icicles in the process.
The venue is gorgeous, a taming of ice’s natural tendencies. Open spaces give way to icy hallways and queues for transparent ice slides, which move very fast both before and after you descend. There’s even a corner for kids featuring a cave to crawl around in and dedicated, smaller slides.
Arriving before sunset still produces incredible views and social media-ready pics — on top of being warmer — but it’s when night falls that the embedded lights provide the attraction’s signature visual treats.
Without the color-changing LEDs, much of the venue would simply become dark, indistinct masses of ice. With them, they take on an ethereal, auroral look that can melt any cynic’s heart. The scenic, undulating valleys surrounding Cripple Creek provide an extravagant backdrop, framed by a few of the castle’s “windows” that highlight why the town is much more ideal setting than the parking lot of an abandoned big box store in suburbia.
All in all, we spent an hour wandering around, photographing the sights and having an amazing time. To say too much more would be pedantic and, frankly, spoil the fun.
Like any of my other artistic outings, I can post pictures all day, but my descriptions pale compared to the experience of physically being there, especially with friends and loved ones. Because the castles’ very existence hinges on the weather, you’ll have until the end of February or the beginning of March before the attraction closes for the season.
Did I imagine that it would be bigger? I did. Do I wish they served hot chocolate? Sure.
It would be hard to recommend driving all the way to Dillon for an attraction like this, but being in our backyard, it’s an easy decision.