Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl): Nov. 1 - Hiking in Cheyenne Cañon

“Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.” ~David McCullough

There are hundreds of hiking trails in this area of Colorado, so picking just one to do was a little difficult. I did research on many hikes in North Cheyenne Cañon south of Manitou Springs. There were several we wanted to do, but the closure of the North Cheyenne Cañon Road left us only the Seven Bridges Trail we could get to. I guess being here in the off season means putting up with some inconveniences.

The Seven Bridges Trail is an out and back trail that follows the South Cheyenne Creek. The hike begins on a former narrow gauge railroad bed used to haul gold ore from Cripple Creek to Colorado Springs for processing. The true trail begins in about 3/4 of a mile where it crisscrosses the creek over a series of seven bridges. The creek runs through a rugged canyon and offers lots of places to wade in the water during warmer months. The high canon walls were beautiful. We enjoyed the hike and truly like trails that follow a creek, but it looked a lot like the ones we do in New York. We were hoping to do a hike that would give us views of the surrounding mountains and Colorado Springs.

Some of the views we enjoyed on our way up to the trailhead. Can you see the snow on the left side of the pine trees?

One of the two tunnels we drove through coming up the mountain.

The trail map. The hike was right at four miles with an elevation change of 995'.

The bed of the old narrow gauge railroad is now called Gold Camp Road. It was an easy start to our hike.

The beginning of the Seven Bridges Trail.

Bridge #1

Bridge #2

There were beautiful views everywhere along the trail.

Bridge #3

The South Cheyenne Creek

Bridge #4

Bridge #5

Part of the trail.

Bridge #6

Bridge #7

We took a break just beyond bridge seven to enjoy some trail mix. A few visitors joined us for a snack. Both the Steller's Jay and the chipmunk liked our peanuts.