27 April 2008
New Santa Fe Trail
Posted by kris under: Trails .
Name of Trial: New Santa Fe Trail
Total Distance: 6.3 miles
Elevation Gain: 230 feet
Difficulty: Easy
Hike Type: Out and back
Starting Location: Trailhead at Castlewood Canyon State Park.
Downloads: Map and Track Points
Today I hiked the New Santa Fe Trail which is part of the Palmer Lake Regional Recreation Area. I started hiking at the northern most point of trail at Palmer Lake. The trail was about 8 feet wide, so it is great for hiking, biking and horseback riding. It was a slight decline which made for an easy hike that is great for family hiking or for a nice Sunday afternoon.
The trail follows the railroad tracks which allowed me to see some of the trains that came from Colorado Springs and Denver. This was very interesting to see the trains up close while hiking. I saw three trains during my hour and a quarter long hike. It also had some great views of the mountains and some red rock views. One thing that I found a little surprising was not being able to see Pikes Peak during the first mile of the hike, and when I was able to see it I was only able to see the very top of it.
One of the other interesting features of this tails was the placards along the path. Each one had some kind of fact about the wilderness that you are walking through or how the area of Palmer Lake came. One of the placards talked about how important the railroad was for the town and that is why they call it Santa Fe Trail because of the Santa Fe railway. There also are some benches a long the way, where you can sit and enjoy the scenery.
The over all length of the trail is 14 miles one way, but I stopped at the next parking spot for the tail that is a little over two miles south of the parking lot a Palmer Lake. This made for a nice four and a half mile hike on a beautiful Colorado day. It is days like these that remind me why I enjoy spring time in Colorado.
To see photos that I took while on my hike, visit my Photo Gallery.
3 Comments so far...
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