Railroad History you can ride around Pikes Peak

Ride outstanding Adventure loops that include these old Railroad lines around Pikes Peak on 4 Rides this Summer and Fall.

The ADV Ride on the Divide is a 4 Day 750 mile Adventure Ride over 11+ Mountain Passes
This ride goes around Pikes Peak and into the Heart of the Rockies.
You have the option to ride up Pikes Peak on Day 4.
ADV Ride on the Divide
July and September

The Great Sand Dunes Hot Springs Adventure is a 3 Day 400 or 500 mile Adventure Ride.
To the Great Sand Dunes Hot Springs and the Arkansas River.
Ride around Pikes Peak with the Option to ride up Pikes Peak on Day 3.
Great Sand Dunes Hot Springs Adventure
In Late July.

The Hartsel Lodge Adventure Rendezvous is a 4 ride from the very center of Colorado.
Ride Mountain Passes in every Direction.
Stay and play in the Heart of the Rocky Mountains and ride multiple Loops of your choice.
Ride up or around Pikes Peak and explore Cripple Creek & Victor.
Hartsel Lodge Adventure Rendezvous.
The first weekend in October

X-Roads Buena Vista is a 6 Day Ride with Multiple Loops from the very Heart of the Rocky Mountains.
Stage & camp on the Arkansas River.
Ride a 2 Day loop around & up Pikes Peak and stay in Old Colorado City?
From X-Roads BV you can ride a loop to, up and around Pikes Peak.
In Mid-August

Better transportation than wagons was urgently needed to access the newly formed Cripple Creek & Victor Gold mining district in the late 1800s.
By the early 1900’s the Gold Mines of Cripple Creek & Victor had 3 railroads providing access for passengers and products to and from the Gold mines.

In 1894 a 3 ft narrow-gauge line, known as the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad (FCCRR) was built up narrow Phantom Canyon from the South.

The Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad extended forty miles and reached the district from the Arkansas River and the south.
This route in Phantom Canyon today still has it’s curved old Railroad bridges.
And is an outstanding ride.

Phantom Canyon was quickly followed by the standard gauge Midland Terminal Railway from Divide.

The connection with the Colorado Midland Railway came from Divide in the north to Cripple Creek.
This Route was 30 miles long and came across the West side of Pikes Peak from the town of Divide .
The two railroads, competitive at first, then joined forces, forming a monopoly.

The Short Line

Mine owners with mills in Colorado City adjacent to Colorado Springs then organized against the monopoly .

The Mine & Mill owners built the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek & Victor Railroad.
Or “Short Line” traversing the southeastern slope of Pikes Peak.
They had reasoned that it was less expensive to ship ore from Cripple Creek than it was to ship coal to Cripple Creek to power a mill in the mining district.
Constructed in 1900, the route began as the Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District Railway.
The CS&CC&V District railroad was able to force freight rates downward, accelerating mine production.

The Midland Terminal Railway operated ten trains a day at peak capacity, .

One train carried parlor cars and sleepers and offered champagne dinners on overnight excursions from Denver.

Freight cars hauled coal, lumber, explosives, machinery, fruit, and other luxuries.
Outbound, the same cars carried ore for delivery to reduction mills, such as the Golden Cycle, Standard, Telluride, and Portland mills at the western edge of Colorado Springs.
Only one Smokestack from the Golden Cycle Mill still stands today.

The Tailings pile at the Golden Cycle Mill today has been turned into a housing development.

W.D. Corley, a Colorado Springs coal mine owner, and cattle breeder, bought the bankrupt COS&CC&V RR in 1920.

It was renamed the Corley Mountain Highway at that time.

Corley removed all the tracks and installed toll booths at both ends.
He opened the Corley Mountain highway in 1926.
This breathtaking mountain highway became a popular tourist attraction.
Corley made $400 per day from the $1 per car toll that he charged.
Corley operated his toll road on a Special use permit from the Pike national forest.
When this permit expired in 1939, the road was turned over to the federal government.
That year the Federal Government changed the name to the Gold Camp Road.
This same old railroad that was converted to the Corley Mountain Highway has been called Gold Camp Road ever since 1939.

Gold Camp Road is a extremely scenic route that extends from El Paso County into Teller County.

The historic origins of the rail line and the toll road are evident along the route, and it continues to be a popular attraction for local residents and tourists.
President Theodore Roosevelt rode the train to Cripple Creek back in the Day. He said “The beauty of the route Bankrupted the English Language”.