"Cripple Creek" is an Appalachian-style folk song, often in old time arrangement for the fiddle, although it is played on stringed instruments such as the banjo. It has become a standard among bluegrass musicians and is often one of the first songs a banjo picker learns. Its time of composition is unknown, and there are theories supporting that the song is either about Cripple Creek, Virginia or Cripple Creek, Colorado during the gold rush. It was frequently recorded by early country musicians in the 1920s.