Hike Mt. Muscoco Trail In close proximity to Colorado Springs

Length: 4 miles roundtrip and close to 1,200 vertical feet
Issue: Intermediate/hard
Why We Adore It: It’s an every day hike (for Colorado Springs locals, at minimum) with a large payoff: 360-diploma city and mountain sights.
Pre-hike Excitement: The Exchange has a large foods menu to accompany its Cuban espresso and other caffeinated drinks.
When to Go: Year-spherical, though it can get icy in the winter (convey microspikes to be safe and sound)
Restrooms: None
Distance from Denver: All around 75 miles
Pet dogs: Will have to be leashed

I realized much too late that I should have brought gloves. My partner and I had just begun up the Mt. Muscoco Path a couple of miles outdoors of Colorado Springs and my fingertips had been presently starting up to sense numb. It was an early December morning, and I could sense that responsible Colorado sunshine, but the temperature even now hovered all around 40 levels. The filth trail begins with a steep ascent, however, which promptly bought my blood pumping and introduced feeling back again to my arms.

The very well-marked, out-and-back again trail leaves from a facet-of-the-road trailhead. Part of the 1,600-acre North Cheyenne Cañon Park, the place is carved from 1.5 billion-year-outdated granite. These historic rocks provide shade early on the hike as the path climbs upward for a fifty percent-mile to the shared saddle with Mt. Cutler. (In point, most of the route is perfectly-shaded, this means the snow and ice can construct up in colder months.) We turned appropriate to keep on our journey to the 8,020-foot summit of Mt. Muscoco.

The path mellows out a bit for the up coming 50 percent-mile, with glimpses of cityscapes to the east popping via the trees each individual so frequently. We then traversed some exposed sections (take caution) as the route curves close to the mountain right before reaching the last 50 percent-mile segment.

This is the most state-of-the-art area as it is steep with free rock and needs some scrambling, although there is almost nothing technical. We missed a smaller arrow indicator directing us all-around and up—keep an eye out as the signage is a little considerably less very clear as you attain the end of the trail—and rather commenced to sweat as we clambered above uneven boulders. I banged my knee on just one and required a moment to permit the throbbing subside. (I’ll ended up with a very small bruise.)

Eventually, we reached the top rated, in which I took a deep breath and seemed all-around: The summit affords 360-degree views of Colorado Springs and the peaks and valleys of the San Isabel Countrywide Forest. We took our time exploring and warming up less than the sun’s rays—and selfie-ing, as there was no 1 else around—before setting up the return journey.

How to get there: From Denver, choose I-25 south to Colorado Springs, exit 140 (Tejon Road). Switch ideal on South Tejon Road at the targeted visitors circle, get the next exit on to Cheyenne Boulevard. You will make a slight suitable on to North Cheyenne Canyon Highway about 2.5 miles later. Abide by the winding road for yet another 1.5 miles. The gravel parking space will be on the still left. (Google Maps will take you proper there.)