Gold Camp Road - FS 626

The 9-mile-long Gold Camp Road trail is a historic railway that connected Cripple Creek and Colorado Springs, part of the Pikes Peak Gold Rush from the 1800’s. It is now only open to hikers, bikers, and vehicles less than 50 inches wide. The northern end starts out at the Gold Camp Trailhead, a paved parking lot. This trailhead accesses several nonmotorized hikes, and the beginning of the ATV trail will be very busy with bikers and hikers, especially on summer weekends. The trail is mostly a flat and wide road on pea-gravel that can be very slippery when cornering, and goes through a scenic forest with wide views of the Colorado Springs valley. After a mile or so, the foot traffic dies out, and the trail continues along the hillsides as an old shelf road, with minor ruts and deeper gravel in sections. It follows the curvature of the mountain where the railway was laid, and goes through two historic tunnels that are very dark and single-lane width, plus past one gated tunnel that is no longer accessible. There was a backcountry camp spot with a great view of downtown Colorado Springs near the 5-mile mark, on the edge of the mountainside. Although designated for vehicles less than 50 inches wide, it does not appear to get any ATV traffic, and there is one narrow section around the gated tunnel that looks more like single track, with tight curves through the trees, that will likely be very narrow for ATVs. Unlicensed vehicles will have to ride this as an out-and-back, as only street-legal vehicles are allowed on FS Road 370 at the north and south ends of the trail.