Old Midland Railroad Tunnels: Hike in Manitou Springs & Ute Pass On Historic Railroad Grade
July 17, 2005
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How to get there: Park just before the Manitou
Springs sign on the deceleration lane coming from eastbound Highway 24. (The westernmost exit.) Note: As of 2008, there are "no parking signs" at this point. You will need to park somewhere along Manitou Avenue and walk up to this point.
Hike the social trail uphill in the quarry (middle photo).
Note the layered infill on the side of the railroad bed in the bottom photo. That is the old Midland railroad grade! |
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Once on the railroad bed, you will see "Tunnel #1" directly to
your right (top photo). It is a very long tunnel! (Perhaps 0.3 miles) I highly suggest bringing
a flashlight just for walking through this tunnel. It's a little spooky in an adventurous kind of way.
The middle photo was taken looking back at the east entrance near the halfway point
of the tunnel.
Bottom photo: Coming out of Tunnel #1, there's a brief opening with Tunnel #2 right after it! |
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After walking through the very short Tunnel #2, looking back at it. |
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Then the scenery begins with the surrounding mountains
of Ute Pass and Highway 24. |
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Approaching Tunnel #3! :) |
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It was pitch dark inside tunnel #3, so I took a flash photo.
As I took this dorky picture of myself, birds freaked out and fluttered their wings, which scared
me! :p) |
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Looking back towards Highway 24 in Manitou Springs.
Just past the two large green signs is my
"Friends of ColoradoGuy.com" Adopt A Highway sign! ;) |
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Folks, this is a glorious trail! Walking through
and exploring these tunnels really stirred my soul. If a trail is ever created that travels up Ute Pass,
this historic railroad grade has got to be part of it. The scenery,
the sense of history and the uniqueness of the tunnels made this a memorable hike! |
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Looking inside Tunnel #4. |
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Ooooooooh! I like this shot! |
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You'll get a good view of Highway 24, and yes, there's a lot of
highway noise (which might turn off some hikers). Yet I think part of this trail's charm is that before the advent of the automobile, a loud, noisy locomotive train traveled on the very grade I was walking on. It's all relative! :p) |
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Tunnel #5, the final tunnel! |
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As you walk westbound after Tunnel #5, you'll note in the photo (see yellow arrow)
the grade ends where C-DOT blasted part of that hill to make room
for the highway. As the grade ends, there is a dirt trail that leads down to the highway. Thus, you could start your hike on this end. |
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One last picture of Tunnel #5 and the surrounding scenery near where the grade ends.
Sigh! This was a really wonderful hike! |
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I actually decided to walk back to
Manitou Springs on the shoulder of Highway 24.
I took a shot of Rainbow Falls on my way down.
Here are some of my Manitou hikes and places:
Williams Canyon (2002)
Williams & Waldo Canyon (2006)
Red Mountain
Manitou Incline
Pikes Peak (Barr Trail)
Fountain Creek
Red Rock Canyon (2004)
Red Rock Canyon (2008)
Rainbow Falls (2002, 2005)
Rainbow Falls (2008)
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