 The difficulty rating system: scale of one to four boots. One is easiest with little elevation gain, and it is at a reasonable altitude. Four is most difficult, with severe elevation gain, difficult terrain or extreme length or altitude.
St. Peter's Dome
Area: Pike National Forest Miles: 2 Elevation gain: 400 Dogs: no
Summary
Perched above Cheyenne Canon, this granite rampart promises a steep, airy climb with a sharp summit scramble that is a rare find in the Pikes Peak massif's crumbly ridges. At one point, hikers must use a rope to climb a short section where the trail goes from steep to truly vertical.
Location
Pike National Forest
Hike
The St. Peter's Dome trailhead has been a favorite late-night parking destination of teenagers for decades, so if the ground where you park is littered with broken beer bottles, cigarette butts and other signs of revelry, you've found the right place. Look for a trail heading northwest from the lot toward a granite-crowned peak. This is St. Peter's Dome. A century ago, the parking lot was a siding on the Shortline Railroad connecting Cripple Creek and Colorado Springs and a popular stop for Victorian picnickers. The trail meanders through a half dozen gentle switchbacks in the woods before butting against a crag where the only place to go is up. Look for a knotted rope to the left that disappears over a 10-foot-high ledge. You've come to the most exciting part of the climb. At the turn of the century, wooden ladders scaled this steep spot. Later, after the ladders rotted away, a metal staircase took their place. You can still see twisted remnants of the stairs lying helplessly in the weeds, but if you want to see the summit, it's time to grab some rope. Make your way up to the ledge using a number of good footholds and the rope (if you trust it.) As you do, imagine ladies in Victorian skirts doing the same shimmy 100 years ago. Once you've topped the ledge, you'll see an obvious trail scrambling up to the right. Watch your footing on loose pebbles on your way to a saddle above the ledge. From the saddle, it's only a few paces to the bare boulder summit of the Dome on the right. Here is your reward for the rope work: a sharp, exclamation point of a summit with a view sweeping down over Cheyenne Mountain and into the city, a view usually seen only by ravens. The spectacle prompted one Mountain Club member writing about the dome in The Gazette in 1935 to say, "We are living in the midst of beautiful mountains but we all seem to forget the wonderful privileges that surround us . . . if we are going to live in Colorado Springs, let's know what sort of place we are living in."
To get there
The St. Peter's Dome parking area lies just under 8 miles up the Old Stage Road, which snakes around Cheyenne Mountain from behind The Broadmoor. This road has enough steep drop-offs and blind curves to make most motorists nervous, but is passable by two-wheel-drive cars. After several steep climbs and narrow stretches, look for a rock-lined parking area on the right next to a sign for the St. Peter's Dome Shooting Range.
Trip Log
3 boots, 2 miles, 400 feet elevation gain.
Details
Not a good hike for dogs or small children, but you don't have to be a rock climber to make it. Information: Pike National Forest, 636-1602. 
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