But if the slow drivers don’t get you, the slow buses may. That’s perhaps an extreme example, but I’ve been stuck countless times in Clear Creek Canyon behind such a driver. You can do the math at home of how long it would take to drive 35 miles going 10 miles per hour would be. You may be ready to begin your day of gambling, only to find yourself stuck behind some terrified flatlander (our Colorado term for someone from a state without mountains), who insists on driving 10 miles per hour, either out of fear, or because they want to take in all the scenery. It’s scenic, and pretty, but it’s not always fast.įirst off, the highway is two lane. The truth is, US Highway 6, is a curvy, usually-crowded, winding two lane highway that meanders its way up Clear Creek Canyon. I’ve seen both Google Maps and Mapquest recommend an alternative route, US Highway 6, which is the highway leading out of Golden.Īccording to the MapQuest and Google Maps, this Highway 6 route, (which turns into Highway 119), is just 35 miles and takes just 46 minutes, meaning it will save you three minutes and five miles from my recommended route. (Above is the Google Maps Route from Denver “A” to Central City “B” then Black Hawk “C” via I-70)Īnother warning I have for those of you driving from Denver to Black Hawk is that some GPS and mapping systems have been wrong. Combine that with excitable, anxious gamblers dying to start playing, and you have yourself a great source of additional municipal revenue in the form of speeding tickets.

We’re talking a 4 lane highway with 30 miles per hour limits in some areas. One warning: the Central City Parkway is a notorious speed trap – made all the worse by the excruciatingly low speed limits they’ve set up. The best, fastest, and easiest way to get to the Black Hawk casinos and Central City casinos, (the two towns are just 1.5 miles apart), is to take Interstate 70, (or I-70 west), 31 miles to the Central City Parkway.įrom there it’s just nine miles over the hill into Central City/Black Hawk area.

Black hawk colorado casino map