After driving back to Colorado Springs from a fabulous week in Rocky Mountain National Park, we spent a leisurely day in Old Town Colorado, window shopping, then that evening we ate dinner at a Biergarten.
The next morning, our last day sightseeing brought the struggle of a choice between 2 great favorites in the Colorado Springs area: driving up Pikes Peak or hiking at Seven Falls?
Having both driven on the Tundra and hiked in the mountains at Rocky Mountain National Park, we determined our choice around the tired brakes on our van to hike at Seven Falls on Cheyenne Mountain.
Whose to know, we might even see a bear!
Box Canyon
Hailed as the grandest one mile in Colorado, the entry into South Cheyenne Canyon is like none other I’ve experienced.
The narrow road into this stunning box-type canyon lies between massively high pink granite walls, the Pillars of Hercules rises 940 feet to the right while George Washington’s profile can be seen 790’ high on the left. The narrowest part of the ride is only 41’ wide.
Driving along Cheyenne Creek, we eventually park, get out of the van to view the amazingly tall canyon walls and take all the pictures we can.
Then we have a choice of taking the stairs to the Eagles Nest or the elevator. Knowing what’s coming next, I save my thighs from burning by taking the elevator for more of a birds’ eye view of our entry.
First opened as a tourist attraction in 1883, burros were eventually provided as a means of transportation into the area.
Entry to the falls, of which there are seven naturally lined up above one another, grace another tall mountain, at the base of which is a trout pond, from which Cheyenne Creek flows. Here there are eateries, gift shops, and a stage for Native American dancing, which is excellent!
Literally Seven Falls
There are 224 thigh burning steps up the 181’ waterfall, with seven different landings, one for each of the falls.
Interestingly each of the seven falls has a name:
- Bridal Veil, Feather, Shorty: visual look of the fall
- Hull: owner of the falls 1882-1904
- Weimer: owner of the falls 1904-1946
- Hill: from Dallas, Texas, current owner of the falls from 1946
- Ramona: named for one of Helen Hunt Jackon’s books, 1884
Hiking Trails
At the top, 6800’, there are 2 hiking trails from which to choose.
Helen Hunt Jackson – local author of the late 19th century
First we took the Helen Hunt Jackson Trail on the left, a 1-mile round trip to the site of the former grave of 19th century author Helen Hunt Jackson.
Popular in the local tourist shops is her 1884 book, Ramona. While here on Cheyenne Mountain she was inspired to write a poem of the same name:
Cheyenne Mountain by Helen Hunt Jackson
By easy slope to west as if it had
No thought, when first its soaring was begun,
Except to look devoutly to the sun,
It rises, and has risen, until, glad,
With light as with a garment, it is clad,
Each dawn, before the tardy plains have won
One ray; and after day has long been done
For us, the light doth cling reluctant, sad
To leave its brow.
Beloved mountain, I
Thy worshipper, as thou the sun’s, each morn,
My dawn, before the dawn, receive from thee;
And think, as thy rose-tinted peaks I see,
That thou wert great when Homer was not born,
And ere thou change all human song shall die!
A little further from the site is Inspiration Point, an overlook at 7200’ elevation revealing a view of the city of Colorado Springs and the prairie beyond. (The picture below is from our hike last year.)
With no threat of rain we heard chickarees chattering in the wood, and birds chirping here and there. We ate some lunch, then we started analyzing interesting plants while we walked back towards the falls.
Midnight Falls Hike
When we reached the falls we continued on the second hiking trail to Midnight Falls.
Soon we found more plants to ooh and aah over. While I tried to take just the right picture, my daughter took out her flower book to try to identify it, with her brother helping with that.
Bear Sighting
Suddenly a couple excitedly walked up to us to say that if we hurried, we’d see a bear ahead!
It was a big one!
They showed us a picture on their camera.
There he was in the picture, running through the narrow place between the split rock only a few feet from us, looking over his shoulder!
He was THAT close to us?
The couple exclaimed, “Yes, he was watching you all until we happened by. Go ahead, he won’t hurt you.
While anxiously checking over my shoulder and up into the trees, we ran up the path, between the split rock, along Cripple Creek, all the way up to Midnight Falls.
Nothing.
Quietly surveying the area, our eyes peered through all the leaves for other eyes possibly staring back at us.
After taking a few pictures of Midnight Falls, we followed Cripple Creek which after it empties into Cheyenne Creek, spills over the mountain into the seven falls, then beyond along the road that brought us in.
Near the approach to the falls is the rain shelter, which is important for those storms that pop up. We needed it during a deluge back in 2001, with many of us huddling underneath to try to stay dry. Soon the storm was over, and we could carry on.
Nature Print Paper
Near the shelter I had the kids collect specimens of their choice, such as leaves, nuts, etc.
Since we aren’t allowed to take specimens out of these parks with us, I had a special project planned…all while looking over my shoulder for site of the bear.
At the ranger bookstore in Rocky Mountain National Park, I purchased some Nature Print Paper which undergoes a permanent chemical change when exposed to sunlight.
After laying pieces of Nature Print Paper on the ground in broad sunlight, the kids laid their collected treasures on top. After counting off 2 minutes, they removed the objects.
The result was that the shadow made by the objects stayed the original dark blue, while the rest of the background became light blue because it had been exposed to sunlight.
Safely packing them into an envelope (while looking over my shoulder), we processed them after we got back home by soaking them in the sink for 1 minute then letting them dry.
The kids will likely put these in their scrapbook along with the pictures they took.
Gift Shop
After descending the stairs, we entered the gift shop for possible souvenirs. When we told the staff about the bear, they assured us there is a resident bear family, quite friendly, who roams the area, particularly the dumpster every night.
North Cheyenne Canon State Park: The Starsmore
Having always intrigued me, I suggested we pop in to visit North Cheyenne Canon State Park, which has many fascinating looking hiking trails, when we drove out of the Seven Falls parking lot. Since we only had a short time left in our day and it was just outside the Seven Falls entrance, we visited their visitor center, the Starsmore Visitor and Nature Center.
Perhaps we can experience their trails on another trip. But it was soon time to leave for the Flying W Ranch for a great evening experience for our last night in Colorado! Stay tuned!
