Cripple Creek donkey release set for May 25

Cripple Creek’s weirdest and most beloved seasonal ritual now has a date. The town’s donkey herd will be released on Monday, May 25, 2026 — Memorial Day — and once that happens, the animals go back to doing the thing that makes Cripple Creek feel unlike anywhere else in Colorado: wandering the streets all summer. (fox21news.com) The announcement came from the Two Mile High Club, the volunteer group that cares for the herd. For a town that leans hard on mining history and quirky tourism, this is not a side show — it is one of the calendar anchors of the season. (gazette.com) ### What is actually happening on May 25? (cityofcripplecreek.com) The donkeys are being brought back from their winter pasture and formally released into town on Memorial Day. The public event is set for 1 p.m. at C Street and Thurlow Avenue in Cripple Creek, and from there the herd resumes its familiar summer pattern of roaming through town under the care of local wranglers and volunteers. ### Why are there donkeys in town at all? This goes back to Cripple Creek’s gold-mining era. The original working donkeys used in the local mines were turned loose in the early 1900s after their labor days were over, and they became part of the town’s identity. (fox21news.com) The modern release ceremony is basically a yearly reenactment of that handoff — from working animals to protected local mascots. ### Who takes care of them now? That job belongs to the Two Mile High Club, which says it has cared for the Cripple Creek donkeys since 1931. The group handles the herd’s welfare and organizes the release event, which means this tradition survives because it is managed, not because the town simply lets animals loose and hopes for the best. (gazette.com) ### Why does the date matter so much? Because this is really the start of Cripple Creek’s summer visitor season in one very photogenic moment. The donkey release lands inside the city’s Memorial Day programming, alongside the Memorial Day Art Show, so it works as both a local tradition and a tourism draw. (cripplecreekdonkeys.com) If you are planning a trip around seeing the donkeys in town, May 25 is the moment the season officially flips. ### Are the donkeys just there for one day? No — that is the key thing people outside Cripple Creek often miss. The release is a one-day event, but the donkeys stay in town through the summer and return to winter pasture in October. (cripplecreekdonkeys.com) So the ceremony is less like a parade and more like opening day for an entire season of donkey sightings. ### Why has this become such a big local symbol? Because it compresses the whole Cripple Creek pitch into one image. You get mining history, a small-town volunteer tradition, and a tourist-friendly spectacle all at once. Plenty of mountain towns have heritage festivals. Very few have a herd of donkeys that still visibly shapes the place. (cityofcripplecreek.com) That makes the release easy to market and hard to copy. ### What should visitors know? If you want the ceremony itself, go on Monday, May 25, and head for C Street and Thurlow Avenue before the 1 p.m. start. If you just want to see the donkeys, the better takeaway is simpler — after Memorial Day, they are back, and Cripple Creek’s summer version of itself has officially started. (gazette.com) ### Bottom line This is small-town Colorado at its most specific — not just an event, but a yearly switch that turns history into something you can literally bump into on the street. On May 25, Cripple Creek gets its donkeys back, and with them, one of the town’s clearest reasons for people to visit. (cityofcripplecreek.com) (fox21news.com) (gazette.com)