Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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38.78780°N / 104.8774°W |
Route Type:
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Rock Climb/Scramble |
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Time Required:
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Less than two hours |
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Difficulty:
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4? |
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Approach
Take Cheyenne Boulevard (or Cheyenne Road, which merges with it) west out of Colorado Springs to the Starsmore house at the entrance to North Cheyenne Cañon Park, at the confluence of North and South Cheyenne Creeks. You can park on the south side of the road up South Cheyenne Cañon, or there is a very small dirt "pullout" area just above the intersection on the road which heads up North Cheyenne Cañon.
Route Description
Start at the Starsmore house, at the entrance to North Cheyenne Cañon Park. Follow the easy Columbine Trail a few hundred feet up the canyon (west) to the pavillion picnic area. Cross the road which comes into the picnic area from the east, and find the trail which leads south, up a gully, to the top of the ridge separating the two creeks. At a trail junction at the top, turn west. Follow the clear trail through some brush, out across a large open area to where it begins to climb once more. After a short, winding climb through more vegetation, reach a level section of gravel on the ridge crest behind the first major outcropping of rock. From here, it gets considerably steeper, and there is no visible trail.
Stay generally to your right (north) as you climb through the rocks. Your objective is a point just to the right of a steep, slanted section of rock, where the rock face finally meets with the scree and trees on the upper north slopes, just above the large, technical chasm on the mountain's north side. The crux is a short, very steep chimney, preceded by a section of slanted, exposed rock just below this point.
From there, it's only a steep walk on scree to the top of the rock face. There are even sections of clear trail once again here. The top features a nice, large rock for posing on, with a great city view behind. This isn't the true summit, but it's what you saw from the road before you started up, and the view really is great.
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Essential Gear
Good climbing or all terrain shoes are all you should need in dry weather. The slope faces east, and is unlikely to hold enough ice to make an ice ax useable. With snow cover, however, crampons might well be needed. Other than that, it's just an exhilirating scramble.
Miscellaneous Info
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