Free camping in Colorado Springs: Wye Campground

August 28, 2009 By

Wye Campground - Pike National Forest - free camping near Colorado Springs

Important note: we are not in any way affiliate with this campground.  Please do not call us with questions about this campground.  If you need more information, contact the National Forest Service.

There are lots of great places to camp in and near Colorado Springs, but not too many that are free.  Well, there’s always the backcountry option, but for those of us that are not quite up for that, try Wye Campground.

Wye Campground is a free National Forest Service Campground in Pike National Forest.  There are 21 campsites and two outhouses (bring your own TP).  Each campsite has a picnic table and fire ring – beyond that, there is not much in the way of “amenities”.  No reservations are accepted.  Campfires are permitted as long as they haven’t been banned in the forest – call the forest service at 719.553.1400 to confirm.  You’ll need to pack out your trash.

Campsite in Wye Campground - Pike National Forest near Colorado Springs

If you read about Wye Campground other places online, you might think it’s inaccessible to two-wheel drive vehicles, but the opposite is true: while the road to the campground has a few washouts that you won’t exactly be speeding through, we took a minivan and passenger car there no problem.

Wye Campground is relatively unknown, and as such, is pretty quiet.  We recently camped on a perfect summer evening and only three other campsites were in use at the campground.  Still, there are no reservations accepted, so on holiday weekends it would probably be wise to arrive early to have your pick of campsites.

Wye campground has two outhouses - bring your own TP!

We read one place that there is supposedly some sort of a cave on the ridge above Wye Campground that Zebulon Pike and his men took shelter in when they were trying to hike Pikes Peak.  No idea where exactly it is, but it would certainly be a fun discovery!

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How to get to Wye Campground: Taken Old Stage Road to Gold Camp Road.  Once you’re on Gold Camp Road, go about 5 miles to Forest Service Road 381.  Turn right and the campground is a little ways back.  (There is a sign for the campground on Gold Camp; you can’t miss it, and if you do, you’re driving too fast.)  Here’s how to get to Old Stage and Gold Camp via Google Maps.

Related: At the “intersection” of Old Stage and Gold Camp is a short hike to St. Peter’s Dome – spectacular views from up top!

Important note: we are not in any way affiliate with this campground.  Please do not call us with questions about this campground.  If you need more information, contact the National Forest Service.

Hiking in Colorado Springs: St. Peter’s Dome

August 25, 2009 By
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St. Peter's Dome - leftmost peak in center

A recent camping trip took us in search of a family-friendly hike and a free campground. Today, I’ll share about the hike to St. Peter’s Dome – come back later in the week for more info on where to camp for free in Colorado Springs.

St. Peter's Dome trailhead

The sign at the trailhead for St. Peter’s Dome indicates it’s a 0.7 mile hike. The first part of the trail is relatively flat, and then it begins climbing and the switchbacks begin. As you near the top, the trail becomes pretty narrow and there is a lot of loose rock.

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When you get near the top, you’ll soon realize that it’s time for mom to stay with the little kids and any teenagers and adults in your group to continue on – if you want to go all the way to the top of the dome, you’ll need to use the knotted rope to get up the next boulder. (As of August 14, 2009, the rope was sturdy, but who knows how long it’s been up there!)

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There are still incredible views even if you stop at the rope!

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If you continue past the rope to get to the top, there’s another 50 yards or so of trail with loose rock, requiring careful footing. After that, it’s a pretty easy walk. Basically, if you get past the rope, it’s easy to get to the very top of the dome. There are amazing views of Garden of the Gods, the city of Colorado Springs, and of course miles of spectacular mountains.

How to get to the St. Peter’s Dome trailhead: since part of Gold Camp Road is closed because of a tunnel collapse years ago, you’ll need to take Old Stage Road to Gold Camp Road. Once you reach the point where Old Stage merges into Gold Camp, drive maybe a mile (?) to reach the St. Peter’s Dome trailhead. It’s easy to find, on the northeast side of the road there will be a small parking area and some large boulders. There’s also a small sign that indicates where the trail is.

Here’s a Google map. Note that the St. Peter’s Dome trailhead starts on the part of the map close to where it says “Duffield”.

Trail Suitability: Though some parts were tricky, we made it up the trail to the rope with our three kids, ages four and under. We had an extra set of hands which were absolutely necessary – you’ll definitely need one adult per child. But, as another site put it, it’s suitable for “adventurous families”.

Things to do in Colorado Springs: Hiking at Glen Eyrie

June 1, 2009 By

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Glen Eyrie is a private Christian conference and retreat center located just north of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  It’s run by the Navigators, and the property is not only beautiful, it’s also historic!  It’s home to the castle the General William Jackson Palmer (the founder of Colorado Springs) built for his wife, “Queen”, in the 1880s.  The historic castle has been converted into a bed and breakfast and conference center – you can reserve a room, have a tea time, or take a tour of the estate.

Though it’s private property, Glen Eyrie is also open to the public on a limited basis for hiking from Mondays through Thursdays (on non-holidays).  They allow up to 24 non-guests at a time on the property to explore the 20 miles of trails.  We went last week and hiked the Queens Canyon trail up to Dorothy Falls.  Here’s a video of some of the natural beauty:

The Glen Eyrie trail map marks this trail as “difficult”.  We took our three kids (ages 4 and under) on the hike and made it to the falls just fine; I would say “difficult” is a stretch unless you want to hike to the punchbowls at the top of the falls.  Keep in mind they when they say “crisscross the creek” they mean “crisscross the creek”.

In all, we crossed the creek 13 times one-way.  They were all pretty easy crossings, but Jeremy will have you know that he made two trips across and back at each crossing because the kids couldn’t cross on their own.  It took us about 2 hours to get to the falls and back – you could go much faster without kids!

As with all hikes in the mountains, it’s a good idea to go in the morning or early afternoon to avoid afternoon thunderstorms.  Note that Glen Eyrie is making a change to their hiking policy – as of June 1st, you’ll have to register online before arriving at the gate.  For more information on hiking and tours, visit their website.

The shortest route from Monument to Woodland Park

May 1, 2009 By

People in Monument don’t get to Woodland Park too often.  You have to drive all the way down to south Colorado Springs, and then up through Ute Pass. Google Maps is telling me it’s only 33.4 miles, but as you can see on the map below, it’s quite a drive for two places that, as the bird flies, really aren’t that far apart.

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There is a shorter route, however.  If you’re not in a hurry, and you want to get from Monument or Woodland Park to the other side of the mountains, you can drive Mount Herman Road (Road 320), connect with Rampart Range Road and take pretty much a straight shot across the mountains.  It’s a gorgeous drive, and you’ll get great gas mileage since you can’t drive very fast!

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We’ve taken this route a couple of times, and you definitely get better views while driving if you take it from Woodland Park to Monument.  There are some fabulous views of Pikes Peak to be seen while you’re driving the eastward route, and as you emerge from the mountains, you can catch some amazing and uncommon views of the Air Force Academy, the eastern plains, and the cities of Colorado Springs and Monument.  Go in the morning when the skies are typically clear – storms roll in during the afternoon and make it hazy, even if it does rain (as above).

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The terrain around Mount Herman is full of huge, smooth rock boulders, and there are several spots with large boulders easy enough even for kids to climb on.

Large boulders on Mount Herman Road

There’s a few miles on the east side of Mount Herman Road that are pretty rocky, and if you start on that side, you might consider turning around.  It does get much better after those first few miles – it’s not that rocky the whole way.  There are several places where the road is washed out pretty bad, but nothing that should be a problem as long as you’re not driving 55 MPH up here.  Our minivan has gone both west-to-east and east-to-west on this road and made it just fine.  Remember that this road has two-way traffic!

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Mount Herman Road meets up with Rampart Range Road, which you can take south to Woodland Park, or north up to Denver (note: we were up there the other day and Rampart Range Road headed to Denver was closed because of wet conditions).

To us, this is one of the best things about living in Colorado Springs – even if you can’t take a full week-long vacation, there is so much to do around here, you can just take a one-day vacation and see so much!  People from all over the country (and the world!) travel to Colorado to ski, hike, bike, rock climb, and drive the mountain roads.  Steve Garufi (the “Colorado Guy”) has a site with more pics of Mount Herman, and lots more info on Colorado hikes and back roads!

View of Pikes Peak from Mount Herman Road in Summertime