Red Rock Canyon, Colorado

A Little Bit of Everything in Colorado Springs

Red Rock Canyon Open Space in Colorado Springs, CO is an outdoors/adventure spot for locals and visitors alike. In addition to mountain biking, there’s rock climbing and from what I could tell, a pretty strong trail running and hiking presence exists there. Horseback riders are permitted on the trails, as well. On a weekday morning outing, the trails were not busy and other trail users were easy-going and jovial, I might say; lots of warm smiles were seen on faces. I mean, with these kinds of views, how could you not smile:

If you’re in the area and have a few hours, put it on your list to ride, as the park has a solid mountain biking trail system. You can ride many routes, linking up trails based on how much time you have. I basically did a big a loop, reading the landscape to get back around to where I started. Pikes Peak to the west was my guide. Note: Signals are strong if you need to check your phone app/map to find your bearings.

If you’re into tech, you can find it on the eastern side on a ridge. I rode it both ways, at the beginning and ending of the ride because it’s the kind of riding I most enjoy.

I happened on some other rocky goodness after riding the Intemann Trail on the western side, dropping into a techy red rock chute-like piece that I was not ready for, causing me to go back up and session it a second time.

Oops, I almost forgot, if you’re into downhill and fast/flow trails, do the obvious downhill trail on the eastern side. I most appreciated the signage. What trail is it? You’ll find it pretty easily on the north side of the tech-white rock ridge trail I mentioned above/earlier.

You could connect from Red Rocky Canyon Open Space to Bear Creek and Pike National Forest, venturing off for miles and miles. The riding/trails go on and on, if you have time/days to pedal away.

Final thought: how about a little history lesson?!

Black-capped chickadees are one of favorite birds!