Pikes Peak Highway is a 19-mile toll road that starts from a side road near Cascade (Colorado) and winds it way to the top of Pike's Peak. Historically, there were three ways to reach the top of Pike's Peak - hike the Barr Trail, ride the cog railway, or Drive the Pikes Peak Highway. The cog railway is currently closed, which leaves two ways to the top -- hike or drive. This was an easy choice to make.
Since the cog railway is closed, vehicular traffic on the Pikes Peak Highway has increased substantially and parking at the top is very limited. Therefore, private vehicles must now be parked either three or six miles from the top and passengers must ride a free shuttle bus the rest of the way to the top. We elected to drive as far as we could and then ride the bus for the last three miles.
On our sixteen mile drive up the mountain from the toll gate, we encountered a crossing sign stating: "Due to sightings in the area of a creature resembling 'Big Foot' this sign has been posted for your safety." We did not encounter "Big Foot," but we did find some really unusual plants growing along the side of the road.
Since I was not able to drive to the top of Pike's Peak on this trip, I decided to include some historic pictures of when I did drive to the top after watching the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race in 1966. (The road was not paved at that time.) The race course uses 12.42 miles of Pike's Peak Highway, has over 156 turns, and climbs 4,720 feet with an average grade of 7.3%.
The year I watched the race, the fastest time to drive the 12.42 miles was a little under 13 minutes. In 2018, a specially prepared electric race car designed by Volkswagen and driven by French racing drive Romain Dumas made it to the top in 7 minutes 57.148 seconds, setting a new record for the fastest time ever.
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| Photographer Unknown |
Manitou Springs (est. population 5,317) is located near the base of Pike's Peak and is known for its scenic setting and natural mineral springs. There are various parks in Manitou Springs and one that contain an old diesel-electric locomotive that was used on the cob railway until 1938. There are also various pieces of military equipment and some beautiful flowers in the park.
Of particular interest in the Manitou Springs downtown area is a factory that manufactures furniture from old skis.
Garden of the Gods is a famous geological area north of Manitou Springs that contains a number of different colored sandstone formations that were deposited horizontally, but have now been tilted upward and look like "fins." There is a visitor center and a movie that explains how and when the deposits were made. There is also a nice view of the "Kissing Camels" from the balcony of the visitor center.
Red Ledge Ranch is adjacent to Garden of the Gods and allows visitors the opportunity to experience how pioneers lived and worked when settling the area.
The Air Force Academy (population 6,680) is located north of Colorado Springs and the Academy's mission is "To educate, train, and inspire men and women to become leaders of character, motivated to lead the U.S. Air Force in service to our nation." There is a nice visitor center that shows a movie about training provided at the academy. After the movie self-guided tour maps are provided, so you can tour the academy at your own pace.
Located just across the freeway from the Air Force Academy exit is the Western Museum of Mining and Industry that is dedicated to mining history and industrial technology associated with mining equipment. There are displays of historic mining equipment used for hand mining, steam engines and some of the newer pneumatic machines that run on compressed air. There are also a number of outdoor exhibits.
Woodland Park (population 7,200), located west of Manitou Springs, is home of the Dinosaur Resource Center that is very popular with young paleontologists (and a few old people). Live tours are available at various times during the day and self-guided tours are available during normal museum hours.
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