Colorado Springs Loop - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 422

sightseersthroughthescatteredforestsandsummerwildflowermeadowsthatcoverthenu-
merous fossil-bearing shales.
6. Eleven Mile State Park
Large lakes are few and far between in this rugged, steep landscape, so humans have
stepped in and, at Eleven Mile State Park, created a reservoir. Although visitors are not
allowed to swim in the cold, cobalt water, they can cast a line and try for trophy-size
trout. To enjoy the area's impressive views—panoramas that take in several mountain
ranges—explore the hiking trails that crisscross the surrounding wilds.
BackonRte.24,thedriveleadstoWilkersonPass,ascendingto9,507feet.Ontheway
back down, the view opens to reveal South Park, one of Colorado's largest upland basins.
The valley, about 900 square miles in size, offers a haven for deer and elk, which descend
from the high country to graze among the meadows. You might also glimpse patches of
white—alkali salts left behind by the evaporation of prehistoric lakes.
7. Collegiate Peaks Scenic Overlook
The drive begins another demanding ascent as it climbs the western slope of South Park
to Trout Creek Pass, which tops off at 9,346 feet. Tracing a 19th-century railroad's course,
the highway slices up barren hillsides, snakes through shadowy canyons, and passes aban-
doned, weatherworn cabins that were built along the way by early pioneers who settled the
area in numbers in the 19th century.
One of the region's finest vistas awaits at the Collegiate Peaks Scenic Overlook,
perched above the Arkansas River valley. The view looks west across a fertile
basin—spotted with willows and cottonwoods—to the snowcapped crowns of the Collegi-
ate Peaks. Part of the Sawatch Range, the mountains were named in 1869 for the presti-
gious universities of the East—Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and Princeton. Rising more than
14,000 feet, each qualifies as a Fourteener, and together their sturdy backbone marks the
Continental Divide's route through these precipitous parts.
8. Arkansas River
When the snow begins to melt, many of the local outdoor enthusiasts put their skis away
and dust off their kayaks. They are bound for the roiling rapids of the Arkansas River,
which originates among these mountains at the start of what will be a 1,450-mile course to
the Mississippi.