Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

JANUARY

** Snowshoe to Barr Camp for hot cocoa. Check trail and weather conditions before you go. Click here or search the OutThereColorado Trail Finder for info on the hike.

** Swing an ax at the Ouray Ice Fest. The best ice climbers in the world descend on tiny Ouray for this festival. So do the best teachers. Beginners and veterans are sure to learn something new.  (Drop us a line if you're headed that way in 2011; Out There should be on the scene!)  ourayicefestival.com 

Here's a story Out There reporter Dave Philipps wrote about ice climbing and the Ouray Ice Festival in 2005.

** Ski the trees in Steamboat. These powdery aspen glades are world famous, and in your backyard. steamboat.com ** Ski a truly obscure ski area. Ever heard of Hesperus? Howelson? Lake City? Kendall Mountain? You can’t be a true Colorado skier until you’ve experienced the big and the small.

FEBRUARY

** Drop a movie-quality chute at Silverton Mountain. You’ll never look at your old ski hill the same way again. silvertonmountain.com ** Score a hut trip for the gang off the cancellation list. Winter weekends at the famous 10th Mountain Huts usually fill up months in advance, but many who book cancel later. Check for openings at huts.org.

** Jog with hundreds of other people wearing headlamps at the weekly Jack Quinn’s Running Club. Participants in the 5K jog depart at 6 p.m. Tuesdays from 21 S. Tejon St. Beer follows. jackquinnsrunners.com 

** Mountain bike Pueblo Reservoir when Colorado Springs is still locked in ice. This sunny desert riding is called the “Front Range Fruita” for a reason.

** Look for the first spring pasque flowers in Stratton Open Space. South-facing hills are most likely to harbor early bloomers.

MARCH

** Cross-country ski to a ghost town. Many small mining communities were left to rot in the high country. For a start, check out Mayflower Gulch near Copper or Hancock above St. Elmo in Chaffee County.

** Ride the Slickrock Trail in Moab while it’s still freezing along the Front Range. This is some of the best mountain biking in the world, but it’s best before the desert heat hits.

** Paddle the icebreaker run down the Arkansas with the Pikes Peak Whitewater Club. Every year, the group kicks off the boating season with a chilly paddle down the Parkdale section above the Royal Gorge. pikespeakwhitewaterclub.com 

** Link the city’s awesome trail system into a mega hike. Avid hikers have seen it on a map: Stratton connects to Cheyenne Canyon, which links to Section 16, which links to Red Rock Open Space. Combine your favorites for a multi-park loop.

APRIL

** Take on a classic fourteener snowclimb. If you don’t like scree, this is the best season to climb. Check out Dave Cooper’s “Colorado Snow Climbs” for some ideas.

** Ski Pikes Peak. Why? Because it rocks, and in spring, the snow has usually stabilized.

** Bike, hike and ski the Imperial Challenge April 17 at Breckenridge. Bike from town, then carry skis to the top of Imperial Bowl at 12,998 feet, then ski down. First one down wins. breckenridge.snow.com  

** Catch the songbird migration at Chico Basin Ranch. The trees of this massive ranch are a stopover for thousands of feathered wayfarers.chicobasinranch.com 

MAY

** Mountain bike through the spring wildflowers of Picketwire Canyon. At the end of this easy ride, track down the canyon’s famous dinosaur tracks.

** Walk with the birds at the annual Cheyenne Cañon Hummingbird Festival. Guided tours and expert talks offer interesting insight into one of our smallest residents. Find out more at tfocc.org.

** Go Olympic on a rental track bike at the 7-Eleven Velodrome. $10 gets you entry and rents a bike. Call 634-8356.

** Canoe to a backcountry campsite at Elevenmile Reservoir. Get information online at parks.state.co.us.

** Raft the Numbers. Catching the Class IV rapids on this section of the Arkansas River at the height of the spring snowmelt will plaster a grin on your face.

JUNE

** Sign up to volunteer on your favorite local trail on National Trails Day. The trails need you.

** Strap on a backpack and ring the Bells. The Maroon Bells Wilderness is one of the prettiest spots in the state. One of the best ways to see it is a multi-day, 27-mile ring around the peaks.

** Pedal the city’s midnight streets during the Starlight Spectacular, a group ride to benefit trails and open spaces. Info: starlightspectacular.org

** Search for fireflies at Fountain Creek Nature Center. Yes, we have them, and for a few weeks, at dusk, you can see them in the meadows near the center’s ponds.

JULY

** Pick wild raspberries. Sunny mountain streambanks thrive with the delicious fruit, making a nice snack on a hike. Just make sure to leave some for the bears and birds.

** See Colorado’s largest bat colony fly out for a night’s work from the Orient Mine in the San Luis Valley. Find out more online at olt.org.

** Get a 2 a.m. start for a solstice sunrise breakfast atop Colorado’s highest fourteener, Mount Elbert. Get more info at fourteeners.org.

** Drop your inhibitions, and your pants, at a backcountry hot spring. Rainbow and Conundrum are two Colorado favorites.

AUGUST

** Tube down the Arkansas River near Pueblo, from the Pueblo Reservoir Dam to the Pueblo Nature Center. Take a tube, life vest and some frosty refreshments.

** Grab the family and pedal the Mineral Belt Trail through Leadville’s mining past. The 11.6-mile trail is paved and loaded with sights and informational signs.

** Run the Pikes Peak Ascent (Aug. 20) or the Marathon (Aug. 21) — or both! Entry information should be posted on pikespeakmarathon.org soon.

** Splash down on a hot afternoon in the Punch Bowls.

** Climb Devil’s Head mountain when millions of lady bugs are gathering on the summit. The 1.4-mile hike to the fire lookout is a great family outing.

SEPTEMBER

** Get pumped for ski season by skiing the sand at the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Info: www.nps.gov/grsa.

** Pedal Fruita’s Prime Cut Trail by moonlight. The 5.8-mile ride is one of the sweetest stretches of beginner singletrack in the state. Info: Over the Edge Sports.

** Hear the elk bugle at dawn in Mueller State Park near Divide. Info: parks.state.co.us/Parks/Mueller.

** Catch the changing of some of the most beautiful aspen groves around, hidden on Cheyenne Mountain. For the best view, hike the Swisher Trail to the top of the mountain.

OCTOBER

** Step carefully while watching the tarantula migration on a hike at Beaver Creek Wilderness Study Area near Penrose.

** Launch yourself down the White Ribbon of Death on opening day at A-Basin or Loveland. The snow is terrible, but the bragging rights are world-class. Get there first by checking Arapahoe Basin or Loveland.

** Get wet, muddy and exhausted in the Fall Series races. Runners earn their cross-country stripes by crossing creeks and scaling cliffs on ropes in this series hosted by Pikes Peak Road Runners. Info: pprrun.org.

** Get to know your local rocks. Sign up for occasional guided tours at redrockcanyon openspace.org or load Out There’s geology podcast onto your MP3 player by e-mailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

** Tell ghost stories on a night hike of Waldo Canyon.

NOVEMBER

** Defy gravity and your better judgment by scaling Montezuma’s Tower in Garden of the Gods. The 5.7 pitch is easy enough for beginners, rewarding enough for veterans.

** Clean Templeton Trail in Palmer Park — and we’re not talking about a trash bag. Almost no one in town can ride this rocky trail without putting a foot down, but it's fun to try.

** Hike to the summit of Mount Rosa on the anniversary (Nov. 27) of Zebulon Pike’s climb.

DECEMBER

** Sign up for an avalanche safety course. The Colorado Mountain Club and Pikes Peak Alpine School offer classes.

** Cut your own Christmas tree in Pike National Forest outside Woodland Park. Pick up a permit ($10) at the station in the Woodland Park Middle School parking lot (corner of Rampart Range and Kelley roads).

** Ditch work to ski Wolf Creek on an epic powder day.

** Ice climb on Silver Cascade above Helen Hunt Falls in North Cheyenne Cañon Park. It’s the best learning ice on the Front Range.