  We investigate higher spin theories of gravity in three dimensions based on
the gauge group SL(N,R)*SL(N,R). In these theories the usual diffeomorphism
symmetry is enhanced to include higher spin gauge transformations under which
traditional geometric notions of curvature and causality are no longer
invariant. This implies, for example, that apparently singular geometries can
be rendered smooth by a gauge transformation, much like the resolution of
orbifold singularities in string theory. The classical solutions, including the
recently constructed higher spin black hole, are characterized by their
holonomies around the non-contractible cycles of space-time. The black hole
solutions are shown to be gauge equivalent to a BTZ black hole which is charged
under a set of U(1) Chern-Simons fields. Nevertheless, depending on the choice
of embedding of the gravitational gauge group, the space-time geometry may be
non-trivial. We study in detail the N=3 example, where this observation allows
us to find a gauge where the black hole geometry takes a simple form and the
thermodynamic properties can be studied.
