Explore Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak or America's Mountain is a ultra-prominent fourteener of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. Pikes Peak's summit with an elevation of 14,115 ft (4,302m) above sea level is the highest fourteener east of its longitude in the contiguous United States. Pikes Peak is located in Pike National Forest, Colorado, with the base located in the town of Manitou Springs which is about 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado, in El Paso County, United States. Zebulon Pike, a commissioned officer serving for the United States Army, received an order in 1806 by Thomas Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Purchase. He later in the winter would attempt to climb the mountain but would later discontinue. The climb was abandoned, possibly due to the mountain's cold weather. The first successful documented hike was by the geologist and botanist Edwin James during his expedition on July 15, 1820. During the Pikes Peak Gold Rush, the mountain was referred in honor of Zebulon Pike, in several newspapers, creating widespread popularity. The song "America the Beautiful" (originally called "America") has been associated with Pikes Peak for about a century. In 1893 the visiting professor, and poet named Katharine Lee Bates educated a summer course in western Colorado. Bates, who had been suffering from depression, was inspired to write “America the Beautiful,” which was initially titled "Pikes Peak", soon after scaling to the summit in 1893.