Date Hiked: May 1, 2022

Distance: 5.3 mi (RT)

Elevation Gain: 1,506 ft

Elevation Min/Max 6,679 to 8,189 ft

Trailhead Lat/Long: 38.81967, -104.89240

Managing Agency: City of Colorado Springs & National Forest Service

Fee: None

Directions:

From I-25, exit at Hwy 24 and follow Hwy 24 west for a few minutes. Turn left onto South 26th Street and follow it for 1.4 miles. Here you can either stay straight on Bear Creek Road or turn right onto Gold Camp Road. Both roads end at the High Drive Trailhead after about 1 mile.

Hike Description:

The hike up Bear Creek Canyon is a wonderful adventure through canyons and forest and resolving at the top of a beautiful slab waterfall (in the early season). The hike starts out easy enough but once you start to hike up the Bear Canyon Trail, it gets to be a steady uphill with little relief. The hiking is not difficult but it’s certainly more than just a walk in the woods.

The trail starts from the parking area and heads up the High Drive Trail, basically just a wide dirt road. Bear Creek is little more than a trickle on the side of the road, but the walls of the canyon get rocky and narrow making for a dramatic canyon. At the .8 mile mark, you’ll see the Section 16 trail branch off to the north…stay straight on the High Drive Trail. Another few minutes up the road, the High Drive Trail curves sharply to the left through a gate and the Bear Creek Trailhead will be straight ahead.

Now on the Bear Creek Trail, you’ll find that the trail narrows to a single track and the forest gets denser. As you start to climb up Bear Creek Canyon, the slopes to your right get steeper as the creek falls away below. At the 1 1/2 mile mark, you’ll come to the first nice view back east of the canyon that you’ll be following for the rest of the hike. Across the canyon to the north are impressive towering rock formations, continue climbing up the canyon.

As you go the trail gets narrower and you should start to see the waterfall and rock wall ahead at the top of the canyon. At 2 1/4 miles, you’ll reach the junction with trail 666. If the trail name doesn’t scare you off, continue hiking up as the trail curves to the north and ends abruptly after 1/4 mile. There is a trail closure at this point with signs and a barb wire fence, this is the end of the hike. You’ll hear and see the slab waterfall below you to the right but for clear views you need to scramble down a crumbly dangerous slope. Use extreme caution here and be aware of hikers below you, rock fall is almost unavoidable. The view from the trail closure is spectacular and looks off to the east towards Colorado Springs and plains beyond. When you’ve taken it all in, head back the way you came.

Bear Creek Canyon is a popular hike in the Colorado Springs Area and for good reason. The High Drive Trail segment is far busier than the Bear Creek Trail so you should be able to get some solitude further up the trail. This canyon is big and impressive and makes you feel like you are further out in the wilderness, hard to believe that you are only 10 minutes from Colorado Springs.