Rampart Range Road
(Scenic Drive From Woodland Park to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs - May 5, 2004)
Above: The grand view of Pikes Peak. |
Rampart Range Road ... now this is an enjoyable and scenic drive in the Pikes Peak region.
How to get there:
At the Woodland Park McDonald's,
go north on Baldwin. Take that road all the way out of town,
and follow the signs to Rampart Range Reservoir.
At the Reservoir turnoff (see sign), veer to the right. This will take you all
the way into Garden of the Gods. Below is my pictorial... |
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As I was taking this photo, P.J. and Kevin drove by in their truck. I used
to work with P.J. awhile back and it was good to see him and his buddy. Oh!
I gave them each a business card! ;) |
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Early on, the face of Pikes Peak is right there! |
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The Overlook
By far, the most scenic lookout is a mile or two south of Eagle Lake. Let me tell you, the views are amazing... |
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Looking towards the southeast. In the bottom photo, that's Manitou Springs at the base and the gray highway is what the "Friends of ColoradoGuy" adopted! ;) |
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The grand view of Pikes Peak. |
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Looking southwest towards
Green Mountain Falls and up Ute Pass. |
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I wore my tie-dye! :) |
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Downward we go... |
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...You'll come to the beginning of Williams Canyon,
with nice views as it leads into Manitou Springs. |
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TOP: Cameron Cone and Almagre Mountain, with Mount Manitou in the bottom right.
BOTTOM: Another shot of Pikes Peak |
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You'll get a good view of Queens Canyon to the north,
including "The Scar." |
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Again, downward we go to the public shooting range... |
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... Um, what is up with all the litter and empty gun shells? |
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TOP: Across the street from the shooting
range, there's so much litter: gun shells, paper bags, food wrappers, etc. about
a half a mile each way along the road. |
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Those shooters do have a nice view of
Pikes Peak! ;) |
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You'll go nearby Cedar Heights,
a gated community on a hillside above Garden of the Gods. |
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The terrain turns orange as you enter Garden of the Gods. |
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You gotta love those orange rock structures! ;) |
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Near the very end of the road, before it spills
into the main road on Garden of the Gods. |
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At the end. You can take this road from Garden
of the Gods and drive up, but personally I think it's more scenic to start at the top and drive down! ;) |
