In 1908, the luxurious Crags Hotel was a place for singing, dancing, and playing poker, reached by the Moffat Railroad from Denver for a one-dollar round-trip ticket, by driving up Crags Boulevard, now Rattlesnake Gulch Trail, or by riding the funicular, a gravity and water tramway up the mountainside. The hotel's success was short lived, and a fire destroyed the building in 1912. Archaeological study at the site uncovered significant Colorado artifacts, including rock wall remains that provide one of the best preserved examples of retaining walls used in that era. Whether the fire was caused by arson or by nature remains unknown, and future studies and newly discovered artifacts may reveal the full story.