activity: hiking, sight-seeing
Cheyenne Mountain is not only home to NORAD, a highly secret defense command built inside the mountain, but also many beautiful water falls. We visited 7 Falls, Helen Hunt Falls, and Mt. Cutler (named after the great quarterback, I suppose). The area also has many small hiking trails, a nice visitors center, and multiple picnic areas. We chose 2 nice, sunny days to explore the area.
The first day, on March 4th, we took a picnic lunch along and went on a few small trails that equaled about 2.5 miles. There was also a small stream running through the area that we explored (unfortunately, no fish!). We had intended on climbing Mt. Cutler, but decided against it. The area also has abundant wildlife, we saw at least 10 mule deer on the days we were there.
On the second trip to the area, along with sister Natalie, we viewed the historic Helen Hunt Falls and took a small hike on a multipurpose 4x4 trail that we shared with motor bikes, mountain bikes, and hikers. The Helen Hunt Falls was mostly frozen over, which gave us the opportunity to watch a group of ice climbers. Even in 55 degree weather the group were using ice picks and crampons to climb straight up a 100 foot waterfall. Heres one of the brave ice climbers...
The view from the top of the falls looked over Colorado Springs and one could see for miles upon miles. Here are a few more pics of the view and one of us:
Map of the area and our first hike:
7 Falls
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