Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak rises to 4,302 m in Colorado. Little Pikes Peak stands 4,073 m to the northwest, 1.1 miles off. The nearest named place is Pike's Peak Summit Visitor Center, a museum 0.1 miles away. Gold Belt Tour passes 9.4 miles off.
The story
Pikes Peak or America's Mountain is an ultra-prominent fourteener of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. Pikes Peak's summit, with an elevation of 14,115 ft (4,302 m) above sea level, is the easternmost fourteener in the United States. Pikes Peak is in Pike National Forest, Colorado, with the base located in the town of Manitou Springs, 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado, in El Paso County, United States. Zebulon Pike, a commissioned officer serving for the United States Army, received an order in 1806 by Thomas Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Purchase. Later that winter he attempted to climb the mountain, but the climb was abandoned, possibly due to the mountain's cold weather. The first successful documented hike was by the geologist and botanist Edwin James during his expedition on July 15, 1820. During the Pikes Peak gold rush, the mountain was named in honor of Zebulon Pike in several newspapers, creating widespread popularity. The song "America the Beautiful" (originally called "America") has been associated with Pikes Peak for about a century. In 1893, the visiting professor and poet Katharine Lee Bates taught a summer course in western Colorado. Bates, who had been suffering from depression, was inspired to write "America the Beautiful", initially titled "Pikes Peak", soon after scaling to the summit in 1893.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q665321, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 4302 m
What to expect
How to reach it
- 9.4 mi off the Gold Belt Tour, National
Overlooks nearby
- Geologic Overlook · 14 mi
- The Valley Overlook · 14 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Little Pikes Peak: 1.1 mi
- Sachett Mountain: 1.7 mi
- Devil's Playground: 2.2 mi
- Sentinel Point: 3.3 mi
- Sheep Mountain: 3.3 mi
- Ruxton Park: 3.7 mi
- Hurricane Canyon Natural Area: 4.7 mi
- Cascade Park: 5.3 mi
- Mabel Willie Park: 6.7 mi
- High Park: 6.7 mi
- Pancake Rocks: 4.3 mi
- Halfway Picnic Area: 4.4 mi
- Heizer Trailhead: 5.4 mi
- Medicine Wheel Sacred Indian Sitr: 5.5 mi
- Cave of the Winds: 7.0 mi
- Back to Kansas: 6.7 mi
- Big Red Chair: 7.2 mi
- Cougar Statue: 10.3 mi
- Starr Kempf's Kinetic Sculptures: 10.3 mi
- Trailblazer: 11.4 mi
- America the Beautiful: 0.1 mi
- Nelson Camp: 6.5 mi
- George Eber Duclo: 7.3 mi
- Glen Eyrie: 9.2 mi
- Pioneer Park Memorial: 10.1 mi
- The Secret Garden: 10.1 mi
- westside community garden: 10.6 mi
- Bear Sculpture Garden: 11.3 mi
- Shipping Container Farm: 11.3 mi
- Horticultural Art Society Demonstration Garden: 11.5 mi
- Windy Point: 2.2 mi
- Dakota Hogback: 8.9 mi
- Point Sublime: 9.6 mi
- Devils Slide: 9.6 mi
- The Gym: 17.0 mi
- Pike's Peak Summit Visitor Center: 0.1 mi
- Miramont Castle: 6.7 mi
- Heritage Center: 7.2 mi
- Race Car Museum Outlet: 8.1 mi
- Heritage Center: 8.9 mi
- Crowe Gulch Picnic Ground: 5.1 mi
- South Spring Cañon Picnic Area: 8.4 mi
- Main Pavilions A and B: 11.9 mi
- Barksdale Picnic Area: 12.4 mi
- Lakemoor Community Picnic Area: 13.5 mi
- Iron Spring: 6.3 mi
- Twin Spring: 6.7 mi
- Ute Chief Spring: 6.7 mi
- Stratton Spring: 6.8 mi
- Cheyenne Spring: 6.9 mi
- Rainbow Falls: 6.7 mi
- Helen Hunt Falls: 8.4 mi
- Bridal Veil: 9.7 mi
- Hull: 9.7 mi
- Shorty: 9.7 mi
- Mesa Wildlife Preserve: 10.3 mi
- Promntory Point Open Space: 10.9 mi
- Mesa Open Space: 10.9 mi
- Concrete Coyote: 12.2 mi
- Cheyenne Mountain State Park: 13.4 mi
- Altman: 8.7 mi
- Husted: 14.6 mi
- Lytle: 19.0 mi
- Gwillimsville: 23.1 mi
- Franceville: 24.2 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 10.3 miles of Pikes Peak. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Pikes Peak | NW 306° | 4,073 m | 1.1 mi |
| Devil's Playground | NW 319° | 3,984 m | 2.2 mi |
| Sachett Mountain | SE 141° | 3,837 m | 1.7 mi |
| Sentinel Point | W 270° | 3,814 m | 3.3 mi |
| Sheep Mountain | S 190° | 3,780 m | 3.3 mi |
| Almagre Mountain | SE 141° | 3,768 m | 4.3 mi |
| Mount Rosa | SE 139° | 3,507 m | 7.9 mi |
| Mount Big Chief | SSE 152° | 3,404 m | 8.0 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:04 | 18:37 | 19:12 |
| June solstice | 05:36 | 19:50 | 20:29 |
| September equinox | 06:49 | 18:24 | 18:59 |
| December solstice | 07:16 | 16:00 | 16:42 |
Local time (America/Denver).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Jun–Sep.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 26 | 27 | 33 | 38 | 46 | 56 | 60 | 58 | 53 | 43 | 33 | 26 |
| Precip in | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Ruxton Park, 4 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOfficial site- USGS Geographic Names Information System feature 204770 — Pikes Peak, El Paso County, Colorado.
OpenStreetMap element node/358945053
Day trips start here
- Colorado Springs · 12 mi
Take the scenic way to Pikes Peak.
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