Bear Creek Regional Park Trail

Distance: 8.4 miles (when combined with the Chutes)
Ride Time: 55 minutes
Elapsed Time: 1hr 15 minutes
Physical Difficulty: Moderate
Technical Difficulty: Easy

TRAIL DESCRIPTION

The Trail starts at the Bear Creek Regional Park sign on the South side of the parking lot. You want to head away from 21st Street so, take a right at the "T" (30 feet from the parking lot). The first 0.5 miles is all up hill and it's a "Bear". At 0.7 miles, you will cross a private drive way; when you reach 1 mile, you will come to a "T" intersection. Turn left and head up the hill. After an additional mile, you will come to a "Y" intersection. To combine this trail with the "Chutes Trail", turn Left. If you want to go down to the Bear Creek Nature Center and make a loop, turn right. The trail is mainly wide single track through an open field.

I will describe turning left at the "Y" intersection because this makes a great loop. The trail will be steady up hill from here until you reach the Chutes Trail Head. The Bear Creek trail ends at Gold Camp Road. There you should head up hill until your odometer reads about 3.7 miles (from the parking lot). The Chutes Trail head is well hidden but is co-located with a parking area on the east side of Gold Camp road. From there you should be able to see the Broadmoor and one of the reservoirs. See picture below for the trail head location. The Chutes trail is about 2.2 miles long but only takes a few minutes (15mins) to complete. Be careful not to go too fast, there are people trying to go up it and there are many "blind" corners. Near the bottom, just as you get to the reservoirs, the trail turns into a dirt road. Follow the dirt road downhill. The dirt road ends at a gate on Ridgeway Ave. From this point on, it will be about 2.5 miles of paved roads. Head left (downhill) on Ridgeway until you reach the intersection with Cheyenne Blvd, then turn Left. The next intersection on the left should be Cresta Road. Turn left onto Cresta, which later turns into 21st Street. Find your way back to the parking lot. After completing this loop, you will have a great sense of satisfaction!

TRAIL DIRECTIONS

• From I-25 (down town Colorado Springs) take exit 141.
• Head west on Cimmarron Street to 21st Street.
• Turn left on 21st Street and go (south) for about 1 mile.
• Just before the intersection with Rio Grande (on the left), you will see the parking lot (on the right).