On Walkabout On: Colorado Springs’ Old Stage Road
|The following is a series of pictures I took last month as I drove up Old Stage Road to access the trailhead to Almagre Mountain. The road begins near the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and is used to access Gold Camp Road that travels to Cripple Creek. The road is completely made of dirt, but it is wide and graded enough that sturdy two wheel drive passenger cars will have no problems on this road:
From the start the road gains in elevation as its traverses the side of Cheyenne Mountain. This causes the road to have sweeping views of Colorado Springs to include of the famous Broadmoor Hotel:
As the road travels up the slopes of Cheyenne Mountain it provides some nice views of the mountains to the west to include the previously mentioned Almagre Mountain:
From Old Stage Road for those who know where to look, St. Mary’s Falls can be seen as well:
Here is a closer look at this wonderful waterfall:
Old Stage Road after passing through a heavily forested area eventually ends at impressive rock outcropping called St. Peter’s Dome:
There is a lookout here that provides a distant view of Colorado Springs:
Also provides views of the backside of Cheyenne Mountain that Old Stage Road traversed to reach this point:
From the viewpoint this is where Old Stage Road merges with Upper Gold Camp Road. Just past St. Peter’s Dome on Gold Camp Road are some very nice views of one of my favorite mountains in the area the 11,499 foot Mt. Rosa:
Here is a view of Mt. Rosa with an alpine marsh in the foreground:
Finally here is a picture of the 11,244 foot Mt. Big Chief which is located at the trailhead for the hike I took to the summit of Almagre Mountain:
Overall a drive up Old Stage Road just to the lookout at St. Peter’s Dome is a nice way to escape the city for a couple of hours. However, I highly recommend that everyone at least once take Gold Camp Road all the way to Cripple Creek. In my opinion a drive to the old gold rush settlement of Cripple Creek via Gold Camp Road is one of the best day trips in the Colorado Springs region and it all starts with making that first drive up Old Stage Road.