Trailhead / Access

To get to Red Rock Canyon Open Space, you would exit I-25 at teh Cimarron St. exit and turn west. The trail head for the Red Rock Canyon starts at a parking lot off Highway 24, west of the downtown area of the city and east of Manitou Springs. The turn into the trail head is about 1/2 mile west of 31st Street on Hwy 24. Here you will find a large parking lot and several trails take off from this point. There is another parking lot just east of this lot if you follow the asphalt roadway about 1/4 mile or so. In addition to the 13 or so miles of trails in the Red Rocks Canyon area, you can access the Intemann Trail in Section 16.

Trail Summary

The Red Rock Canyon Open Space is a recent addition to the Colorado Springs trail system. Purchased in 2003, it consists of just shy of 800 acres. Most of this space is devoted to trails for hiking, cycling, and horses and areas for rock climbing. The area is part of the hogbacks geological formation that runs the length of the front range. I has a wealth of interesting trails, valleys, ridges and meadows. There are a variety of trails ranging from easy to difficult to be found here. Even the trails listed as difficult are well within the capabilities of a reasonable active person.

Course 1 - 2.15 miles

For my first hike in the Canyon, I took the trailhead trail at the west end of the first parking lot. This is labeled as the Sand Canyon Trail. This trail is basically an out and back trail with other trails branching off so you can extend the hike. The trail wanders mostly in a westerly direction and eventually climbs up to the houses that are visible to the west. I did not follow it quite that far since it was a hot day and the dog was getting warm. The trail map looks to have a trail that cuts over to Section 16 trails which I will map at a future time.

The trail is uphill most of the way out but gentle with a couple sections of washout to make the hike interesting. The rocks are very interesting and you will get good views of the city. There is one view looking north towards the Garden of the Gods where you see a view of that area that I have never seen pictured anywhere with the Garden rocks and Glen Eyrie.

Course 2 - 2.65 miles

For the second hike, I started on the east end of the parking lot and followed the "Mesa" trail. The signs along the trail are good and show you your options at most junctions with other trails. The Mesa trail goes in a southwesterly direction and for the 1.4 miles is mostly uphill on a nice wide trail. It is intermediary becasue the width of the trail, good material on the trail and the slope is gradual.

The Mesa trail ends where it runs into the Greenlee Trail and the Intemann Trail. Checking the trail map sign, it looked like following the Greenlee trail, would be the most direct route back but to add a little more distance, I would suggest taking the Roundup Trail which will take you down into a deep canyon (listed as black (advanced) but it this direction, it is just a steep descent into the canyon. From there you pass through a gap in the ridge and pick up the Red Rock Canyon Trail. There are some additional trails to the east that I will want to explore at another time that appear to be a little more difficult.

Along the Red Rock Canyon Trail, you will be between two sets of rock formations. This is a popular climbing area. Also, there is a section of the west rock wall that was part of a quarry back in the late 1800's that supplied stone slabs of the red rock used throughout the country in a number of famous buildings. If you follow this link: http://www.RedRockCanyonopenspace.org/ you can learn a lot about the history of the area and the geologic details.

Course 3 - 3.75 miles

My third trip to Red Rock Canyon, I took the trails to far east of the area and follows it up and looped back through the middle of that area. The last part was similar to Course 2 at the last part.