Lower Gold Camp Road

Lower Gold Camp Road is a gorgeous route that travels through a breathtaking pine-carpeted area close to Colorado Springs that is rich in scenery and railroad history. As travelers drive through this beautiful area, make sure to stop and visit Helen Hunt Falls, located approximately 200 yards southeast of the southern trailhead. This gorgeous little 36 foot tall waterfall is framed by a small bridge over the top of the falls that leads up a short but steep hike to reach Silver Cascade Falls. The falls are named in honor of Helen Maria Hunt-Jackson, a United States poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the U.S. government. The Lower Gold Camp area is the location of many scenic hiking and mountain biking trails. The route of Lower Gold Camp Road traverses 2.5 miles of what was once the location of the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway Company's railroad line connecting the city of Colorado Springs with the gold fields of Cripple Creek and Victor. The rail line originally opened for steam locomotive service April 8, 1901 and was advertised as the shortest possible route to the gold fields. Soon after it was given the name "The Short Line." After World War I the Short Line was forced sold as a result of dwindling income from the passenger and freight service. It was purchased by a Colorado Springs capitalist named W.D.Corley who in 1926, opened the route as a toll road for vehicle travel and renamed it the Corley Mountain Highway. It was renamed The Gold Camp Road in 1939 and today is maintained for free, public travel by the US Forest Service, Teller County, and El Paso County.