Mount Rosa

This wooded, 11,499-foot cone looms high above the Colorado Springs skyline, a great day hike from town to help get your legs in shape for summer, with rarely seen views of the Pikes Peak massif from its small, rocky knob of a summit.

This mountain isn’t as prominent as its white-capped neighbor to the north, Almagre Mountain, or climbed as often as other peaks in the area. Its most famous visitor may have been explorer Zebulon Pike, who probably climbed Mount Rosa on his failed attempt to summit Pikes Peak.

To get there

Drive up Old Stage Road to Gold Camp Road. At Forest Service Road 379, passenger cars should stop and walk up the road. Four-wheel-drive, high-clearance vehicles can make it 1.5 miles up — look out for large rocks and high creek crossings in early summer. Park in Frosty Park.

The hike

From the meadows of Frosty Park, head north briefly and look for the intersection with Nelsons Trail (trail no. 672.)

Leave the sounds of dirt bikes behind and turn right and hike around the north side of the mountain. After about a mile, turn right at an intersection — a left would take you to St. Mary’s Falls — and begin plunging up a good trail through Rosa’s steep, wooded slopes.

Enter a clearing, with the summit of Rosa beckoning ahead and Pikes Peak sparkling in the distance behind you. Follow well-placed rock cairns across the clearing and back into the trees, and follow the trail to the summit.

From the top, Colorado Springs looks peaceful and quiet, while to the west the high peaks of the Sangre de Cristo and Sawatch mountain ranges make you wonder what Pike thought about the great expanse of uncharted wilderness that lay ahead.

There are other ways to explore Rosa, including beginning at North Cheyenne Cañon Park and hiking through St. Mary’s Falls, a much longer route, with 12 miles and 3,600 feet of elevation gain.

There are also some bushwhacking routes up. Visit gazette.com/out there for details.

Information

Camping is allowed, but expect many neighbors in Frosty Park on summer weekends. For information, call Pike National Forest, 636-1602.

Rating system

A scale of one to four boots. One is easiest, with little elevation gain, and it is at a reasonable altitude. Four is most difficult, with severe elevation gain, difficult terrain or extreme length or altitude.