Known by some as America's Mountain, it was the inspiration for Katherine Lee Bates' poem "America the Beautiful", which is one of the more well known songs about this great country of ours. It is the easternmost of Colorado's 54 Fourteener's or mountains which top 14,000 ft in elevation.
The road is open year round but subject to closure due to snow or adverse weather. It's best to call ahead, specially in the Winter and Early Spring months. The road itself is 16 glorious miles long with many jaw dropping views of nearby mountains and sharp drop-offs down to the Front Range. It has about six miles of packed dirt with small gravel road, split between roughly two three mile long stretches with the rest paved. On a good day some far ranging views of the Front Range and the mountains to the west. Don't let the report of gravel dissuade you, it's doable by even large bikes such as Goldwings and my 1150RT Beemer, Maria. I just made sure to take it nice and slow, no problems.
Because of the altitude, older carbureted motorcycles may experience some issues with rough idling but nothing to worry about really. You'll just have to manually keep the idle a bit higher than normal while at the top. The symptoms disappear soon enough on the way down the mountain.
Note, take your cold weather liners for your riding gear, it's quite "brisk" up on top, even in the middle of summer! Being at over 14,000 ft, you'll have less oxygen to breath as well so be aware. Check out the info link below as to symptoms of high altitude sickness.
The mountain is located near the city of Colorado Springs, watch for US24 West from the I-25 Slab and you'll see signs for the Pikes Peak Road, you really can't miss it. If you get to Woodland Park because you were too busy enjoying the twisting curves of this stretch of US24, you missed it.
While you're in the Colorado Springs area, make sure you check out The Garden of the Gods. Truly an amazing collection of giant rock formations, I'll be writing about The Garden of the Gods soon so watch for the article. Here is a teaser photograph from that upcoming posting:
Sunset at the Garden of the Gods
You can pose your motorcycle as I did with Maria here once you've successfully ridden to the top of Pikes Peak. This wagon with the famous slogan is located near the entrance to Pikes Peak Road.
Here's my rides involving Pike's Peak: LINK1 LINK2 LINK3
For information about Pikes Peak and Road Conditions: LINK
Please take a look at the photo slide show, it's a mix of photos from three of my rides up Pikes Peak.
Ride Safe, Ride Aware.
Info site on Pikes Peak: LINK
Comments