Favorite HIKES near COLORADO SPRINGS
I’ve lived in Colorado Springs now for almost 7 years! I’ve hiked all over the place and these are my hands down top 5 favorite hikes! Keep in mind that some of these hikes aren’t in Colorado Springs but are less then a 40 minute drive away from there.
Red Rock Open Space • Red rocks is a GIANT open space with tons of different trails! It’s located off US highway 24 near Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs. What I love about red rocks is it’s huge and there are so many different places to go that you can never stop exploring and you don’t run into other people too often. On the weekends it definitely gets more crowded so I always recommend going during the week. They also have an off lease dog park area which is always lovely. It’s a great go-to when you want to go somewhere close.
Pancake Rock • This trail is actually located in Divide and is about 40 minutes away from Colorado Springs. It’s a 6.7 mile hike with some decent elevation gain but the views at the top are to die for! Especially in the fall when all the Aspen trees have bloomed!
Red Mountain • Red Mountain is a 2.1 mile out and back trail in Manitou Springs! Not to long but the uphill can get you. Again, absolutely worth it at the top! It’s a great hike for seeing the sunrise. The parking can get weird and I’m not even sure if you can park by the trail so we always park in downtown Manitou and then take the free bus up. That bus also takes you to the Manitou Incline!
Mount Herman • I just recently discovered this cool place in Monument. Monument is about a 30 minute drive away from Colorado Springs. A friend had told me about it and so I went for the first time last week and it was so beautiful! There was absolutely no one out there, the snow sparkled in the sunshine and again a couple different trails to choose from which is always nice! I will definitely be back up there!
North Cheyenne Canyon • I’ve been all over north Cheyenne a million times! It’s giant and so amazing that we can drive 15 minutes from downtown Colorado Springs and then be completely consumed by nature and not hear any city noise. I love it! 7 bridges is probably the most popular trail but I definitely encourage you to check out the rest of them as well.
HONORABLE MENTION:
• Balanced rock at Garden of the Gods isn’t so much of a hike, more like a walk, BUT is my favorite place to watch the sunrise in the morning! When the sun hits those beautiful red stones it is breath taking! So many great memories there!
• Pikes Peak was my first 14er! We took the back way up Pikes Peak which starts at a trail called the Crags trail. It is significantly shorter then the front way up but definitely more challenging. It’s 13.1 miles out and back. We started at 6:30 in the morning and finished around 2. I always recommend challenging yourself so if your a pretty decent hiker I suggest trying it out! It was hard not to put this one on my top 5 but figured I would put the places I go to the most on there.
Thanks for reading! If you have a top 5 favorite send them to me!! (Contact me page) Hope everyone is having a beautiful day! It’s 70s today so I am headed outside with the pups. 🌞
