A Trip Through the Colorado Highlands

[Livingston]

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, my wife and I took a drive up into the mountains. We started out with a drive through one of our city parks, Garden of the Gods (GOG).



In 1871, General William Jackson Palmer founded Colorado Springs while extending the lines of his Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. In 1879, General Palmer repeatedly urged his friend, Charles Elliott Perkins, the head of the Burlington Railroad, to establish a home in the Garden of the Gods and to build his railroad from Chicago to Colorado Springs. Although the Burlington never reached Colorado Springs directly, Perkins did purchase two-hundred and forty acres in the Garden of the Gods for a summer home in 1879. He later added to the property but never built on it, preferring to leave his wonderland in its natural state for the enjoyment of the public. Perkins died in 1907 before he made arrangements for the land to become a public park, although it had been open to the public for years. In 1909, Perkins' children, knowing their father's feeling for the Garden of the Gods, conveyed his four-hundred eighty acres to the City of Colorado Springs. It would be known forever as the Garden of the Gods "where it shall remain free to the public, where no intoxicating liquors shall be manufactured, sold, or dispensed, where no building or structure shall be erected except those necessary to properly care for, protect, and maintain the area as a public park."

http://www.gardenofgods.info/history.htm

[Livingston]

One of the nicer housing areas has a great overlook facing west. Across the GOG you can see Pikes Peak in the distance.

[Livingston]

When you look south from that same spot or from the other side of the largest rock formation in the previous pic, you can see Cheyenne Mountain, sometimes known as the hollow mountain and home of NORAD.

[Livingston]

There are several hiking trails and picnic areas in the park. Here is one of my favorites :g:

[Livingston]

Two of the most popular rock formations are Steamship Rock and Balanced Rock.




There were too many visitors to get a good view of balanced rock, so I used another rock to block them.

[Livingston]

We then drove up through the towns of Woodland Park and Divide where we turned and headed into the mining country. Most of the route was originally part of the Colorado Midland and the Cripple Creek Central Railroads. The round house for the CM is still standing in Colorado Springs. You can see evidence of the roadbed along side the highway and a few of the tunnels.

[Livingston]

At the highpoint of the drive, we could see rain coming through across the high plains.

[cloves]

wow...fantastic terrain! thanks for sharing.

[Livingston]

Soon we were at the overlook above Cripple Creek.

[Livingston]

And then down into town.


You can see evidence of abandoned mines over all of the “hillsides”.