Pikes Peak COG Railway & Highway

There are several ways to get to the top of Pikes Peak. There is a road that you can drive to the top, “The Pikes Peak Highway”. There is even a race in the summer on the road. There are a couple different hiking trails to the summit starting on different sides of the mountain and there is “The Pikes Peak Cog Railway”.

We have driven up the highway several times with different visitors in tow, hiked up twice, and taken the cog railway up once.

The highway is mostly a gravel road after the visitor shop halfway up and does not have guard rails along it, so it can be a bit nerve racking for those not comfortable with heights and steep drops.

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

Usually snow covered at the top until late April or June

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

 

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

If you take the highway up:

Often the highway can be closed due to weather conditions in the spring and fall, and is usually closed in the winter. On the way back down Park Rangers will test the temperature of your brakes 1/2 way down to see if they are overheating and could fail. Brake failure on the Pikes Peak highway is not good thing!

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

Our brakes are good at our check because we drove in a lower gear coming down. We get to continue and not have to wait 1/2 hour for them to cool down.

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

Having been to the top of Pikes Peak all the other ways we decided that we should try the Cog railway once.

The cog railway is a set of railroad cars imported from Switzerland that use a gear and cog system in the middle of the tracks to pull the trail to the top of steep grades. The depot at the lower end of the tracks is located in Manitou Springs just next to the Trailhead for the Barr camp trail to the top. The railway roughly parallels the Barr Camp trail halfway up the mountain then skirts around to the south side where it works its way to the summit. It requires an entire afternoon to go up and back. The day we road the train was overcast with cloud cover and we had to break though the cloud deck to get to the top.

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

Once the train arrives at the top everyone gets off and goes into the gift shop for a while. The return trip is in about and hour.

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

Also at the top is a monument with America the beautiful inscribed on it.

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

The story goes that Katherine Lee Bates the writer of America the Beautiful was atop Pikes Peak and was so struck by the view out over the plains she was inspired to write the song “America the beautiful”.

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

I guess I would call that view inspiring!

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

Can’t see the plains today for the cloud cover

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

 

Back on the train on the way down a different view of the bottomless pit that we had looked at up close on an earlier hike.

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

Farther down the track on the south side of the mountain

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

 

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

We stop and wait for the train coming up because there is only one track and this is the only switch area.

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

The snow is still deep in areas early in May.

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

As we move back into the tree line below 13,000 feet  the snow thins out.

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

 

From Pikes Peak Cog Railway & Highway

While the cost of a ticket on the Cog railway (Cog railway WEB site here)  is a bit expensive it is a nice way to enjoy an afternoon.