{"id":2695,"date":"2013-10-29T00:24:02","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T05:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/?p=2695"},"modified":"2013-11-03T21:48:15","modified_gmt":"2013-11-04T02:48:15","slug":"colorado-discoveries-17-spruce-mountain-open-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/10\/colorado-discoveries-17-spruce-mountain-open-space.html","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Discoveries 17: Spruce Mountain Open Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colorado basks in their “open spaces”. I’m not sure if it’s a special category of park or what, but there are many in our community, and there are several between Colorado Springs and Denver.<\/p>\n

That’s where my latest adventure took me.<\/p>\n

Just north of the towns of Monument and Palmer Lake, Colorado is the Spruce Mountain Open Space<\/a>. Last Friday my friend and her sons invited me on a hike at Spruce Mountain on the boys’ day off from school. My sons were in school so I was joining them solo.<\/p>\n

Don’t let the word “mountain” in the name fool you. It’s more of a mesa, and we took a very similar hike at Palmer Park in the heart of Colorado Springs<\/a>. Just the same, Spruce Mountain gives you some beautiful views that are much more peaceful. I’ll take Spruce Mountain.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The parking lot was packed! You can see that it’s not a huge “mountain”.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"A<\/a>

A map of the trails available here. We started in the upper right at the parking area\/trailhead and headed towards the lower left to Windy Point.<\/p><\/div>\n

We encountered a wide variety of terrain on the hike, including this one area that reminded me quite a bit of hiking on the Eglin Range down on the Florida Panhandle. Sandy soil, pine trees, gentle slopes.<\/p>\n

\"To<\/a>

To my Florida friends reading this: does this not looking like the Eglin Range<\/a>?<\/p><\/div>\n

I know Dave and the kids will want to come with me back to this location. We heard two trains while we were hiking. The trains come up from the south towards Monument Hill and have to proceed VERY slowly.<\/p>\n

\"At<\/a>

At every vantage point along the southern trail are views of the BNSF and Union Pacific railroad tracks that run in parallel.<\/p><\/div>\n

The views were spectacular! I recommend this hike, which is a mere 45-60 minutes from Colorado Springs to the rural areas near Larkspur, Colorado. This map below has Spruce Mountain in the middle. Click through the map to get your own directions to the open space.<\/p>\n