About 'maps of colorado springs'|Colorado Springs Pregnant Woman Hit By Car While Fleeing From Bear
Few things can bring a smile to your face faster than having a friendly dog or two ramble over to say hi while you're in the middle of a pleasant hike; especially if the dog's owner just happens to be a pretty girl. Luckily, you'll find plenty of both as you hike Stratton Open Space in Colorado Springs. Stratton Open Space (SOS) is fairly small compared to Colorado Springs areas such as Palmer Park or Garden of the Gods, yet it boasts eight miles of trails that interconnect through five separate ecosystems. As you trod, you'll encounter ponderosa pine trees, grassland, oak scrub brush, a natural watercourse, and a cattail marsh. And, similar to Palmer Park, the trails intersect enough that you can wander freely, creating your own unique adventure as you hike. Unlike Palmer Park, however, the trails are all fairly short-the Chamberlain trail is the longest at 1.68 miles, while the South Suburban Lower Loop checks in at a mere .37 mile distance. And as an added benefit, it's a perfect place to go if you're with a beginner or just starting out yourself: other than the Gold Camp Path, every trail is rated either "easy" or "moderate." Throw in some impressive scenery and Stratton Open Space is a fantastic place to spend a couple hours hiking, walking, running, or mountain biking. SOS has four convenient trailheads to choose from, all providing quality access to different areas of the park. We'll get to those soon enough; for my purposes, however, we'll start at the Ridgeway Ave. trailhead, located off Cheyenne Blvd. After arriving at the Ridgeway trailhead, I opted to climb for about a mile or so up through the meadow (don't worry, it's a fairly easy climb) to the start of a path called The Chutes. The Chutes is a moderate-rated trail of 1.12 miles that affords you the opportunity to get your heart rate up with a good, steady climb up to Gold Camp Road. It's a twisty trail that's part hard-pack and part loose gravel, mostly running right next to each other up the entire trail. Pine trees often touch each other over the trail, giving you the impression that you're hiking in a tree-lined tunnel as you climb. You'll also want to be very vigilant as you hike, as The Chutes is a legendary local mountain bike trail and therefore very popular with the resident knobby set. Having bombed down The Chutes many a time on a mountain bike, I can personally attest to the sheer fun it is-it's probably the closest thing to a dirt bobsled run that I've ever ridden. All of which means that you're apt to encounter a speeding mountain biker or two as you hike this particular trail; ironically, I just finished hiking it and didn't encounter one single bike this time. That is an anomaly, however, so keep your ears open as you admire the scenery. The effort put in to hike up to and climb The Chutes is well worth it, however, because of the wildlife viewing opportunities and the breathtaking view of Colorado Springs that awaits you at the top. As I hiked, I watched two large geese flying overhead, circling a few times, squawking the entire way. As I made my way between the Gold Camp and South Suburban reservoirs, they suddenly disappeared as quickly as they'd appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Not to worry, however. A couple minutes up the trail I encountered a flock of beautiful birds. Admittedly, I'm no birder, so I'm not entirely sure what species I saw, but they had striking, deep-blue feathers, a color so attractive that I'd love to trade my hazel eyes in for it. They also had groovy black Mohawks on their heads. The birds were in addition to the spectacular red rock formations looming in front of me as I humped my way uphill. At the top, rather than return the way I came, I jogged back down The Chutes far enough to pick up a connecting path to the Chamberlain trail and started working my way east. If you choose to follow my lead, when you come to the Chamberlain trail, be sure that you go right instead of left. The Chamberlain trail is not quite as strenuous as The Chutes; it mostly consists of gentle rollers. However, turning left, although making for a pleasant hike, will eventually dump you into a neighborhood where the trail abruptly ends-you'll have to backtrack to the intersection and go right anyway. (See, I do these things so that you won't have to, as long as you read this and pay attention...) Anyway, having returned to the intersection, I headed off in the proper direction. Heading this way, the Chamberlain, while still rolling, is pretty much a steady downhill that will allow your lungs a bit of respite after having climbed The Chutes. I enjoyed my trek down Chamberlain, jogging when I felt like it, and made my way over to Upper Meadows Loop. Upper Meadows Loop is one of the longer trails in the area (1.31 miles) and meanders easily north/east and is so undemanding that it's perfect for beginners (or even a motivated, hearty little kid.) At times it even resembles a nature walk more-so than a hike, but after taking a brief short cut on the Ponderosa trail, Upper Meadows Loop does get back to being a fairly proper, somewhat technical hike (there are numerous waterbars and rocks to negotiate-still fairly easy, but more than the easy saunter you'd recently become accustomed to. From there, I hit Wildflower Path back to the Ridgeway trailhead. The name of the trail should clue you in: Wildflower Path. If much of Upper Meadows Loop was a nature walk, Wildflower Path would be the equivalent of the very easiest parts of Schoolmarm at Keystone. It's like a nicely-groomed ski run and after having put around five miles into my legs, I welcomed it's laid-back nature with a smile on my face. As far as the nuts and bolts are concerned, Stratton Open Space is located next to North Cheyenne Canyon. Trailheads are located off Ridgeway Ave off Cheyenne Blvd (be alert-Ridgeway is a small side street and there's really no forewarning that SOS is coming up, you just have to be on the lookout. You can also continue up into Cheyenne Canyon a little past the Starsmore Discovery Center for another trailhead. There is also one located at LaVeta Way off of Cresta Rd, and one off of Gold Camp Road at the top of The Chutes. In addition to the eight miles of trails and the wildlife viewing, SOS also offers access to Pike National Forest. All in all, Stratton Open Space is a fun place to hike. It's perfect for beginners, and its smaller size practically guarantees that you can explore the entire area in a couple of hours. If you're new to the area, or haven't hiked it before, be sure to add SOS to your list of places to see. If you haven't hiked it in awhile, you're certainly due for a return visit. |
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