One of the Many short day hikes around Colorado Springs lies just off the Gold Camp Road south west of Colorado Springs. Gold Camp Road is a beautiful old gravel road that runs about 40 miles from Colorado Springs along the Front Range to an old Mining town of Cripple Creek. Cripple Creek is now a gambling mecca, but you can still see remnants of the old gold mines. In the early part of the century the road was used to haul wagon trains of gold out of the mountains around Cripple Creek to Denver. Sections of the Gold camp road are now shutdown because of cave ins on 2 different tunnels along the old road.
To get to St Peters dome a granite peak just West of Cheyenne Mountain Air Force base which is a restricted area, you need to now take the Old Stage Coach road now FS368 up to the Gold camp road and back track towards town because of the cave ins.
The Gold Camp road as seen from St. Peters Dome
 |
| From St Peters Dome |
It is roughly a 45 minute drive from town and most of its gravel road and a bit rough. Once there the trail to the top isn't very long maybe 1/2 mile but parts of it are quite step and requires climbing a rope a short distance and scrambling with your hands and feet in a few risky areas.
 |
| From St Peters Dome |
 |
| From St Peters Dome |
Basically you spiral around the dome to get to the top as you work your way up. As you near the top it gets tough to find the trail and you half to be careful as there is a steep drop along the eastern side and you are hoping from one bolder to another to ascend.
 |
| From St Peters Dome |
Once you reach to the top the view of Colorado Springs laying before you to the East is awe inspiring. Its a great place for lunch and a few pictures
 |
| From St Peters Dome |
 |
| From St Peters Dome |
Looks like the scramble across the east face took its toll on this climber
 |
| From St Peters Dome |
No comments:
Post a Comment