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Pikes Peak, Colorado


Prominence: 5510 ft, 1679 m

Elevation: 14,110 feet, 4301 meters


True Isolation: 60.62 mi, 97.56 km
Name Info Local or Alternate Name(s):
    Indigenous Name: Tavá Kaa-vi
Elevation Info Summit: 14,110 feet
NAVD88 Elevation (?): 14,116 ft / 4303 m
Latitude/Longitude (WGS84) 38.840511, -105.044589 (Dec Deg)
38° 50' 26'' N, 105° 2' 41'' W (DMS)
496130 E, 4299079 N, Zone 13 (UTM)
Map Source US Geological Survey (1:24,000)
    Sheet: Pikes Peak (O38105g1)
Country United States
State/Province Colorado
County/Second Level Region El Paso (Highest Point)
Links

Search Engines - search the web for "Pikes Peak":
     Wikipedia Search
     Microsoft Bing Search
     Google Search
     Yahoo Search

Other Web Sites
     Pikes Peak at SummitPost
     Pikes Peak at ListsOfJohn
     Pikes Peak at Mountain-Forecast.com
     Pikes Peak at Summits on the Air (Amateur Radio)
     Pikes Peak at USGS-GNIS
     CoHP.org Trip Report for El Paso, CO by David Olson
     CoHP.org Trip Report for El Paso, CO by Walt O'Neil
     CoHP.org Trip Report for El Paso, CO by Kevin Baker

Weather and Snow
     National Weather Service Forecast
     NOAA Snow Depth Map

Selected Guidebook(s) for this Peak:
       Colorado's Fourteeners: From Hikes to Climbs (Roach)
       A Climbing Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners (Borneman, Lampert)
       Hiking Colorado's Summits (Mitchler, Covill)

Ascent Info

Total ascents/attempts logged by registered Peakbagger.com users: 1646
     Show all viewable ascents/attempts (Total: 1525)

Selected Trip Reports - Click on linked Date for full report:
Date Climber Type GPS TR Words Link
2023-07-14 L, Christopher "Neo" TR-138
2023-07-14 Sharaga, Scott TR-243
2023-06-30 Super, Josh TR-566
2022-06-30 Richardsson, Brian TR-92
2022-03-28 Song, Steven stevensong.com
2021-07-10 Keltgen, David TR-27
(2021-06-11) Hanson, Vic TR-166
2019-07-24 Pirate 🏴‍☠, Peak TR-29
2018-09-06 Mclellan, Richard TR-347
2018-07-28 Layton, Tom TR-293 cograilway.com
2018-07-21 Stewart, Matt TR-67 strava.com
2017-10-14 Inman, William TR-254
2017-10-03 Wright, Mike TR-338
2017-09-16 Hildebrand, Dan TR-523
2017-07-23 Raventon, Miles TR-258
2016-11-14 R, Bradley TR-898
2016-10-16 Wiltshire, Jason TR-401
2016-09-22 Turner, Keith TR-374
2015-07-16 Sexauer, Gustav TR-1203
2014-08-16 Molloy, Brian TR-953 outdooroutlier.blogspot.com
2014-07-26 Swider, Jeremy TR-1681
2014-06-29 mizenko, glen TR-128
2012-11-03 Arnold, Michele TR-496
2012-08-25 Lubbert, Brian TR-319
2012-08-19 Reed, Jason TR-648
2012-08-18 Reed, Jason TR-317
2012-07-22 Woodall, Rob TR-177 peakbagger.com
2011-08-13 Kassan, Eric TR-70
2009-08-15 Tilton, Kevin TR-1548 alstrinfilms.com
0000 McGuire, Jeremy TR-257

Peak Lists that contain Pikes Peak

     5000 foot Prominence CoHPs - 48 States (Rank #7)
     Fred Beckey's Great Peaks of the Continent (Rank #11)
     USA Lower 48 Peaks with 5000 feet of Prominence (Rank #37)
     USA 48-States 14,000-foot Peaks (Rank #37)
     5000 foot Prominence CoHPs (Rank #11)
     Colorado 14,000-foot Peaks (Rank #30)
     Customary Western USA Fourteeners (Rank #40)
     USA Lower 48 Top 100 Peaks by Prominence (Rank #37)
     U.S. County High Points over 13,000 feet - 48 States (Rank #23)
     14ers.com Colorado Fourteeners (Rank #32)
     Fifty Highest CoHPs in Lower 48 (Rank #19)
     U.S. County High Points over 13,000 feet (Rank #28)
     United States 14,000-foot Peaks (Rank #60)
     Fifty Highest CoHPs (Rank #24)
     Top 10 Prominence Grid for U.S. States (Rank #51)
     USA Lower 48 Peaks with 4000 feet of Prominence (Rank #37)
     North America 14,000-foot Peaks (Rank #77)
     Colorado Peaks with 25 miles of Isolation (Rank #4)
     2000-foot Prominence CoHPs - 48 States (Rank #34)
     Top 10 Isolation Grid for U.S. States (Rank #105)
(Peak is on over 20 lists; Not all shown here.)

Nearby Peak Searches:
     Radius Search - Nearest Peaks to Pikes Peak
     Elevation Ladder from Pikes Peak
     Prominence Ladder from Pikes Peak

Description:

Pikes Peak is perhaps the most famous peak in the Colorado Rockies. It has a commanding position overlooking the plains, rising 8,000 feet from its base just west of Colorado Springs, and it stands alone like no other 14,000-foot peak in the state. However, it is not particularly high (ranking only 31st among the 54 Colorado fourteeners), nor difficult to climb (a road and railway both reach the summit), nor craggy (in the same way the Crestones or Longs Peak are). Aside from its local prominence, its fame arises from alliteration and from Zebulon Pike's 1806 assesment of the peak as "unclimbable" after he turned back. He was proved wrong long before the road was built--in 1820 Edwin James of the Longs expedition made the ascent, the first white man to summit a Colorado fourteener.

There is a tiny hamlet called First View out on the Colorado high plains, just 30 miles west of the Kansas line, and on exceptionally clear days (rare in these days of air pollution) the snow on the summit of Pikes Peak is just visible as a wispy cloud above the horizon. Approaching Colorado Springs on Route 94 across the empty, windy plains, the cloud gradually becomes bigger and is soon recognizable as a mountain. It is easy to image the pioneers being extremely impressed and fixated on the easternmost high sentinel of the Rockies as their ox-wagons slowly plodded towards it.

Climbing Notes

Three major options are available for those who want to reach the summit of Pikes Peak. The paved auto road is steep and curvy, but still easily negotiable by any passenger car that pays the toll--just remember to keep it in low gear on the way down. A cog railway chugs up from Manitou Springs for those who don't even want to drive. The most popular trail on the peak is the Barr Trail, an 11-mile path with a 7500-foot elevation gain that is usually done over the course of two or three days. It begins near the cog railway terminal in Manitou Springs. Just remember that most peak-bagging quests don't count an ascent unless you also climb down as well, leaving the railway off-limits as a downhill shortcut for the purist hikers who make their way up the Barr Trail.

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The hail and snow was just starting to fall. (2012-08-10). Photo by Brian Talon.
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Web Map Links Peakfinder Panorama
GeoHack Links   CalTopo   MyTopo   Bing Maps
Google Maps   Open Street Map
Prominence Key Col Page  (Detailed prominence information)
  Clean Prominence: 5510 ft/1680 m
  Optimistic Prominence: 5550 ft/1692 m
  Line Parent: Mount Democrat
  Key Col: Lake George    8600 ft/2621 m
Isolation Isolation Page  (Detailed isolation information)
   Distance: 60.62 mi/97.56 km
   Isolation Limit Point: 39.586954, -105.640739
Nearest Higher Neighbor in the PBC database:
    Mount Blue Sky  (NNW)
Ranges Continent: North America
Range2: Rocky Mountains
Range3: Southern Rocky Mountains
Range4: Front Range
Range5: Rampart Range (Highest Point)
Drainage Basins Arkansas
Mississippi
Gulf of Mexico
Atlantic Ocean
Ownership Land: Pike and San Isabel National Forest
First Ascent July 14, 1820
    James, Edwin
Route #1 Dirt Road: Pikes Peak Road
Route #2 Maintained Hiking Trail: Barr Trail
Data Source 1:25,000 (or larger) Topographic Survey Map
Dynamic Map

 Pikes Peak   ( Key Col)    Other Peaks
Click Here for a Full Screen Map



Other Photos

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Kim and I at the summit after the Pikes Peak Ascent (2014-08-16). Photo by Brian Molloy.
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Approx 1 mile up Barr Trail (2016-09-22). Photo by Keith Turner.
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Pike's Peak Summit (2016-09-22). Photo by Keith Turner.
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Summit (2016-09-22). Photo by Keith Turner.
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Barr Camp (2016-09-22). Photo by Keith Turner.
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If there's no photo, you were never there, right? (2017-03-21). Photo by Christopher Randall.
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Hazy view down to Colorado Springs (2017-03-21). Photo by Christopher Randall.
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rails to the summit (2014-08-17).
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   Edit Photo Info


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Beth & I playing the tourist on top of Pike's Peak. (2020-07-22). Photo by Ted Bauer.
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Pikes Peak, CO Photo by Beth Bauer.
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