Summary
The Elk Park trail trots below Pikes Peak's rocky cirque through a patchwork of dense, mossy forest and sun-splashed meadows, eventually ending at Barr Camp. It's a nice alternative start for a summit hike.

Location
Pikes Peak

Hike
Elk Park is one of the few mountain hikes that starts by going down. People training for the Pikes Peak Marathon often run this trail for months to get used to the altitude, but it's also a quiet, gorgeous hike. Follow the trail as it contours south along gravelly slopes of Pikes Peak. After 1.4 miles hit a trail junction in the valley of Severy Creek. Turn left down the valley of Severy Creek. Follow signs to Barr Camp. After a half-mile it crosses the creek, climbs back to a ridge, and drops down into the next valley. The trail is clear and easy to follow the whole way. As it dips in and out of the drainages running off the peak, hikers get a fair sampling of dry lodgepole pine forests, aspen stands, thickets of spruce and fir along the creeks and open meadows. Best of all, the trail offers a ringside view of Pikes Peak's pink granite summit looming 3,000 feet above hikers' heads. If 11 miles is too long of a day, the trail has nice turn-around points at every corner. A great variation that doesn't added any miles is to continue roughly five miles on the Barr Trail to the summit, then hitch a ride down to your car with a tourist.

To get there
Take U.S. Highway 24 west 10 miles west from I-25 to the Pikes Peak Highway. (Admission is $10 per person.) After the toll booth, drive about 13 miles to the Elk Park scenic area. The turn-off is easy to miss. After you pass Glen Cove, the road makes a quick switchback to the east. 0.6 miles past the hairpin, look for a small road on the left that looks like an off-ramp into oblivion. You've found the parking lot.

Trip Log
5.5 miles one-way to Barr Camp, 1,600 feet elevation loss.

Details
There is no potable water at Barr Camp. Fees: Pikes Peak Highway charges $10 per person or $35 per car. Information: Summit House atop Pikes Peak, 473-0208; Pike National Forest, 636-1602.
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