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| Hiking | 5.70 Miles |
1,602 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.70 Miles | 4 Hrs 4 Mns | | 1.69 mph |
| 1,602 ft AEG | 42 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | This was 2 separate hikes to two Colorado county highpoints, both of which are a bit west of Colorado Springs:
1) Thunder Butte, the highpoint of Douglas County (elevation of 9,836' and prominence of 1,356')
2) Devils Playground, the highpoint of Teller County (elevation of 13,060' and prominence of 120')
Thunder Butte
5.28 miles with 1,507 feet of AEG
I drove to the trailhead on a couple of dirt roads that most any vehicle could drive on. I parked at one of the designated parking spots on the W J-9 Road. About every 1/4 mile or so there were designated parking places or designated parking/camping places.
There is a good, easy-to-follow trail for about 1.5 miles. Beyond that the trail got faint or non-existent as I made my way up to a saddle. Once at the saddle I followed a ridgeline up to the summit. There were a couple of rock outcroppings on the ridgeline, but I was able to get around them. There was a bit of rock scrambling for maybe the last 50 feet of vertical up to the summit, some of which was easy class 2.
There were great views at the summit, and it was a clear day so I stayed up there for a bit. There was a nice view of Pikes Peak off to the south, and the views to the west were nice also.
Devils Playground
0.41 miles with 95 feet of AEG
The Devils Playground is 2 miles from Pikes Peak and is about 1,100 feet lower. There are several rock pinnacles and boulders at the Devils Playground. It got its name because during thunderstorms lightning sometimes bounces from rock-to-rock at the playground. Needless to say, this is not a good place to be during a monsoon storm!
I drove up the road to Pikes Peak and parked at a huge parking lot at the Devils Playground. It was a short hike up to the highpoint, which is at an easy-to-get-on boulder. There are great views in all directions there, so it is worth stopping at.
A couple of years ago I hiked to Pikes Peak from the Crag Campground, and the trail goes right by Devils Playground. However, at the time I was not aware that it was a county highpoint, so I did not bother to go there. Pikes Peak is in El Paso County, but the El Paso-Teller County line goes right through the Devils Playground, making it the Teller County highpoint.
Synopsis
Views were great at both of these county highpoints, and I am glad that I took the time to check them out. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
There were some nice wildflowers on the hike to Thunder Butte. |
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| _____________________
| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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