The sweeping east face of Pikes Peak – home of the famous Barr Trail.

• Peak: Pikes Peak
• Route: The Barr Trail
• Distance: 24 Miles
• Vertical Gain: 7,520 feet
• Time: 6:24
• Runners: Solo
• Summit Gapers: Infinite
• Date: 7/16/22
• Strava Track: https://www.strava.com/activities/7480106117

The Barr Trail – A Pikes Peak Trail Run

The Barr Trail on Pikes Peak is one of those routes that has been on my list for years and years, but for one reason or another, I just hadn’t done it yet. But not for lack of trying.

I had a few cancelled dates along the way. I even drove all the way down to Manitou Springs a few years back, only to realize I had chosen the day of the annual Pikes Peak marathon to try to do my climb. Whoops. A slog through some open space in Monument was a pretty sad consolation prize that day.

Anyway, this summer I am fully engaged in training mode for The Bear 100 in September, so I was excited to finally sneak in a trail run up this Colorado classic. I drove down to Manitou Springs and my morning started like they all seem to for this route: confused about parking and dodging the many workout groups excitedly walking up towards the Manitou Incline.

Parking Tips: A quick word about parking for anyone else trying this route. I (like every other human, it seems) was thoroughly confused about how exactly to park for this damn thing. My impression of Manitou is that it is THE classic example of a city not knowing how to not bite the hand that feeds it. i.e. The no-parking Nazi propaganda is on in full force throughout the town, usually surrounding the very attractions that bring people to it. I lost count of the number of confusing, stern, or downright threatening ‘No Parking’ signs scattered on just about every single square foot of open curb in the city.

Suffice it to say, after some trial and error, I learned there are really only two parking options for the Barr Trail:

1. Pay parking at The Barr Trailhead lot. This is open to anyone, but it’s super small. I rolled in at 5:55 on a Saturday and was SOL as it was completely filled.
2. Free lots in town. I ended up parking in the Hiawatha Gardens Lot and took the free shuttle (rides start at 6:00 AM) up to the base. It cost me $20 for 7 hours of parking. This seems to be the only realistic option if you don’t arrive super early. But overall, it was efficient and easy to use. I recommend it as it seems to be the least brain-damaging way to do this. 

Anyway, I shook off the annoyance of the parking cluster + so many people out already on a Saturday morning as I de-boarded the bus and quickly made my way to the start of the Barr Trail.

Leaving one trouble behind and preparing for a much more enjoyable one: that pesky little ascent to the top. Despite the 13 mile notice on the bottom sign, the trail markers only went up to 11. My watch (and others) have the whole trail at 12 miles one-way, which feels way more accurate. It’s a long way up no matter how you slice it.

A setting full moon framed this beauty of a morning. It was warm already, but the main heat held off for a while as I enjoyed the excellent route up on the initial switchbacks above town.

I had heard plenty of rumors about the quality of this trail and I was not disappointed. This must be one of the best maintained mountain trails in existence. Amazing steps, maintained fencing, lots of width, and a (relatively) reasonable grade made for an excellent morning of jogging. I was early enough to avoid any crowds descending from the Incline, so I was able to make quick work of the lower switchbacks (this route has about a million) as I went up and up.

A July morning over Manitou Springs.

The Barr Trail comes right alongside the Manitou Incline for just one quick switchback – not only a convenient bail point for exhausted hikers, but also, a nice peeping spot for curious trail runners. It’s a lot steeper than I expected. I gotta admit, it does look really cool.

I had actually thought about ascending The Incline first, as the top of it easily connects to the Barr Trail. But it ended up being too complicated. Apparently they require reservations now for the Incline (go figure) and the website appeared to be fully booked out for several weeks. No thank you. I stuck to the reliable Barr instead and enjoyed my winding way up through the first of four distinct climate zones I’d be in all day.

Soon enough I got my first real glimpse of the peak ahead. It looked a long way off. But the thing about this route is that everything is long and big. Mentally I was prepared for it all to feel like a stretched out effort. You just expect it going in. So, instead of being discouraged, I just marveled at how much higher and further this wonderful trail was about to take me.

The first real look at Pikes Peak. The summit is still a long ways off and a long way up, even after the first ~2,000 feet of gain. But I knew that after the initial few miles of ascending switchbacks the grade would ease off and become very manageable. From here to Barr Camp was exceptionally runnable. And fun.

Classic Pikes Peak Massif surrounding terrain.

After enjoying a few miles of low angle, cruiser trail, I finally rolled into Barr Camp. This camp is conveniently located essentially exactly half way and makes for a natural break point. It was fun to mill about with all the other hikers, campers, and runners for a few minutes while I checked my fluids, ate some food, and tweaked gear before getting ready to ascend up into the alpine.

I didn’t stay long at Barr Camp, but it seems like a really sweet place. It was cool to see all the different types of people and groups who were coming and going. Normally groups of people can be an annoyance in the wilderness, but something about the whole Barr experience just seemed to really lend itself to the camaraderie. I’d love to come back and spend a night here someday.

Leaving Barr Camp, I had done 6 miles and 3,500 feet. Only another 6 miles and ~4,000 feet to go!

The trail steepened after Barr Camp so I naturally slowed a bit. But doing so gave me even more of a chance to just marvel at its steady, unrelenting, and consistent quality. Everything about the Barr seems logical, well thought out, and consistent. All very admirable qualities for a surly INTJ like yours truly.

The long switchbacks through the trees eventually brought me to treeline and the final phase of the climb.

Reaching timberline and gazing up at Pike’s massive east face. A tiny mountain this is not!

All respect in the world to Ms. Roberts. For 88 years old, what a way to go!

I found the upper portions of the peak to be some of the most enjoyable of the whole day. Pikes Peak’s upper face is a massive mix of all kinds of goodies: big rocks, sweeping views, a few sheer drops, tons of relief, and of course the ever-excellent trail. I made friends with another runner as we wove our way up the many, many switch backs to the summit. The higher we went, the louder the horns of the cog railway above became, foreshadowing the craziness that would surely await us at the top.

I loved how many other runners were out there on this day. There’s almost nowhere else in the state where you can find this kind of sustained, long, vertical outing, so it only makes sense. But being up there with so many others really lent itself to a sense of community. Pretty much everyone was training for something or another. Another unique thing about the Barr.

Alpine beauties.

Summer in the Rockies.

I was told “not to ask” why these final switchbacks are named as such. So, I just left it a mystery.

Up and up. Almost there now.

The final mile or so of the route became much steeper and rockier. And more crowded. Although the whole day was busy, I seemed to catch all the morning hikers all at once on the final mile. And the mountain bikers coming down. And of course, the crowds at the summit. It was a stunner of a bluebird day, so the throngs were fully out and about as I finally crested the last switchback, jogged my way across the new iron works by the cog rail, and shuffled over to the true summit.

Bucket power.

One thing I was very curious about on this day was to explore the new summit house and summit experience that had only finished a year prior. Putting down any elitist urges to scoff at a summit so thorough gaped-out, I decided to embrace the infrastructure and just marvel at it. And marvel is about all you can do.

I was thoroughly impressed with what they built up there. Amazing signage. Intuitive summit trails. Ample parking. A slick new cog station. Plenty of space to spread out be outside. And of course, an amazing new summit house. I’d put it easily on par (or indeed, surpassing) almost any national park visitor centers. Between the views, gift shop, cafeteria, restrooms, museum, and medical center, Pikes Peak summit truly has it all.

From a wilderness perspective, its heresy, of course. But for a thirsty trail runner casually running a mountain marathon one random Saturday in July, it’s a godsend. The perfect place to refuel, refill, and relax for a bit. I blended in with all the throngs of midwestern tourists and dutifully got in line to buy donuts and refill water before sitting down to relax for a few minutes.

Summit views…

The imposing, impressive windows from the summit house. If one peak has to be the ‘sacrificial lamb’ 14er and get thoroughly whored out, you might as well go big. And go big they did. I was impressed.

The only real issue with the summit turned out to be the donuts. As I started my way back down, my stomach quickly let it be known that it was not happy. Maybe it was the altitude. Or the heat. Or just the exhaustion from going up for 7,500+ feet. But I blame the donuts.

My running from the summit quickly digressed to jogging. Then to shuffling. And then to something that looked like the final stages of a 100 mile race. By the time I reached treeline again, I decided to just walk for 10 minutes and let things chill. Thankfully, this did the trick as I was soon able to jog my way back down to Barr Camp again.

The remainder of the descent was largely uneventful, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun. As nice as the Barr is for going up, you can really cruise on the down. I took it pretty easy (trying to keep all my insides on my insides), but if you felt good you could really, really fly on the descent (see Matt Carpenter’s mutant 3:16 round-trip effort for proof). I’m no Matt Carpenter (no even remotely close), but I still felt proud of myself as I wound my way alllll the way back down this big-ol mountain. I caught the shuttle back to my car and was thankful to have avoided a ticket from the parking Nazis, despite being a bit longer than the 7 hours I had paid for.

All in all, I loved my day on the Barr Trail. There are so many unique, distinct, and appealing aspects to it that your really can’t help but fall in love. I’d happily do it again and I’m thankful for a great day out to finally run up it.

Thanks for reading if you did. Happy trail running!

Below: A Re-live capture of the full day’s efforts! 

Until our next meeting.