Directions:

From I-25 in Colorado Springs, take the Fillmore Street exit and head east on Fillmore. Past North Union Blvd, turn left on Paseo Road. Enter the Park and look for the North Canyon Trailhead and parking lot.

Hike Description:

Palmer Park is a wonderful recreational resource for the Colorado Springs community. The park boasts an enormous number of trails for hiking and mountain biking, as well as picnic areas and drive-up viewpoints. Situated amongst the mesas and bluffs east of Colorado Springs, the trails generally have fantastic views of Pikes Peak and the Southern Front Range Mountains. This hike represents the sweet spot of the park and is representative of the park as a whole. If you can only go on one hike at Palmer, this is the one.

The hike starts from the North Canyon Trailhead along the main park road. The North Canyon Trail will take you up past the stables to another trailhead heading into the oak and spruce forest. The trail then starts to switchback up the mesa along rock formations with the first big views of the hike. At the top of the Mesa, you arrive at the Templeton Junction, head left. The Templeton Trail provides the main attraction of this hike. The trail skirts just below the Mesa Top along the base of cliffs, among and through rock formations. The views along this stretch of trail are awesome with the City of Colorado Springs stretching out below and Pikes Peak towering across the valley. The trail continues along the south and west faces of the mesa and eventually reaches the mesa top where it intersects with the Mesa Trail.

The Mesa Trail is the main thrououghfare on top of the Mesa. The wide flat trail takes you from the north section back to the south where you rejoin the Templeton Trail for a few minutes, then the North Canyon Trail to descend the same switchbacks that you came up. Along the way, there are various overlooks and side trails for even more views of Pikes Peak and Colorado Springs.

This hike explores just a section of the north mesa. There are many more trails in the north, and an whole other south mesa to explore.