Welcome to Travel Tuesday! Remember back in the day when I went backpacking with my brother and his friends and we climbed Mount Sizer and I lamented about how “The Shortcut” was really difficult? …well, I take it all back. The Manitou Incline is now the most challenging “hike” I’ve been on to date. ._.
Climbing the Manitou Incline and the Barr Trail
Distance: ~0.9 miles (for the incline) + 3.3 miles (Barr Trail)
Elevation: 2000 feet gain (average grade of 45%, but gets as steep as 68%)
Difficulty: Harddddd
Duration: Depends on your fitness level. If you’re an Olympian or super hardcore, <30 minutes?
Trailhead Address: 38.8568500, -104.9319000
Parking: Free if you manage to snag it at 10 Old Man’s Trail, Manitou Springs, CO 80829. Otherwise, you can park in the Barr Trail lot or Ruxton Road for a fee.
There’s a free shuttle that runs from 6 am to 6 pm (the times that the Incline is open–no night use permitted). I came here on a weekday and was able to find a free parking spot at 8-ish am.
For the record, you start at 6500 feet and end at 8590 feet. This sucker has a total of 2768 steps. Yes, you read that correctly. They are not even either, so if you’re short, some of em’ will feel like full-on squats.
A super cute squirrel that visited me (+ sat on my right boot!) for a bit and provided me with a great excuse to take a break. :P
People climbing the incline are super encouraging and supportive though! (We’re all suffering together, might as well work through it together too!)
The incline is an average of 41% incline (68% at the highest). Slow and steady! And please make sure you bring a tonnnn of water!!!
I met a guy who climbs this thing every day–his motto was “1 minute on, 1 minute off” and he kept up a pretty good pace! He has a friend who’s trying to beat the record of climbing the Incline the most times in a year. The current record is 1720, and the fastest ascent so far is 17:45.
Do be aware that there is a false summit so even though you think you’ve reached the top, you still have another 300 steps to go. (Noooo.) I didn’t even notice this though, so maybe you won’t either!
To get down, hike the bottom 3.3-ish miles of the Barr Trail! I really would not recommend walking down the Incline (especially if it’s your first time there!)!
I probably should’ve warned you beforehand that this would be a very picture-heavy post, but better late than never, right?
The Barr Trail is seriously a very welcomed hike down (vs going down the incline). If you were to follow it up all the way, it actually spans about 12 miles (one-way) with an elevation gain of 7900 feet, which would leave you at the summit of Pike’s Peak!
Pike’s Peak’s summit is at an elevation of 14,115 feet. It’s known as America’s Mountain (if I’m not mistaken, America the Beautiful was written about this peak!). I would’ve loved to climb it but figured I probably shouldn’t go it alone.
“Please keep off the DUCK! If you like climbing so much, we highly recommend the Manitou Incline.” — I’m loving the snark!
- What’s the most challenging hike you’ve ever been on?
- Would you climb this? :P (How long do you think it’d take you?!
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I love hiking in Colorado! This sure does look like a beautiful and challenging hike
It was fun and super pretty, but definitely a tough one!
Farrah recently posted…Climbing the Manitou Incline and the Barr Trail
I really love hiking in Colorado too! The most challenging hike I’ve been on was in the French Alps, where I climbed on ice and woke up super early!
Ooo, I’d love to do that someday!
Farrah recently posted…Climbing the Manitou Incline and the Barr Trail
So pretty! Looks like I’ll be hiking way more under the circumstances, so this is a nice suggestion :)
I’m definitely hoping to do more hiking right now too, given the current situation. Hope you get to go sometime!
The climb looks like a great experience! Lovely photos :)
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Thank you! It was an awesome workout and super pretty! I really want to go back someday!
I have recently started hiking (5 hikes up until now) and would slowly transition to hard hikes once am confident with moderate ones. Thank you for sharing this encouraging experience!
That sounds great–I hope you’re having fun with them! :] There are so many beautiful places to explore!
Farrah recently posted…Climbing the Manitou Incline and the Barr Trail
Wow! Looks beautiful over there.
It definitely was! :]
Well any hiking I have done pales in comparison to this! Such a beautiful setting, but I’m especially intrigued by all those steps ;-)
It was definitely a great workout–I was so exhausted by the time I got to the top! I think you’d be awesome at this one! :P
Ok so… I think I would be afraid of heights on that hike up those steps. And I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be walking for days after that with quads being on fire and whatnot. But WOW THAT VIEW!!!!
Some of those steps felt like straight up full body squats! The view was definitely super pretty though–it was a good distraction! (Looking down those steps, not so much.)
I was trying to maximize my time everywhere, so I went on like 3-4 hikes that same day and then another one the next day. My legs did not appreciate any of this, haha.
Love a challenging hike! Views look decent too
Definitely! :D
I love that you added a lot of pictures in this post! What a breathtaking view. I’m intimidated just looking at your pictures!
I was rethinking my life choices when I was at the bottom and staring my way up at the top!! :P
That’s gorgeous!!!! I was going to say, going up the incline would be just fine, but no way could I go down. I’m so glad there are other options.
Me too! I did notttt wanna climb down that after getting to the top, haha.
Wow, that looks absolutely amazing! I can’t imagine doing it every day like the guy you ran into – I bet he is in amazing shape! We hiked Camelback in Arizona a few years ago. We also hiked to the cross in Puerto Vallarta. Both were challenging (I forget the elevations), but the view at the top made them so worth it! Your photos are awesome. Stay healthy!
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I can’t either, but if I lived near there, I feel like I might try to (maybe not every day, but once a week?). It’d be such an awesome cardio workout! :P
That’s awesome–I’d love to do that someday! :D I meant to climb up Camelback last summer but it was 113-119 degrees (hello August..) so I decided against it, haha. ._.
Oh gosh, I’m one of those people that die going up stairs, so I could never do this. LOL I can walk for awhile, but the whole uphill thing just kills me and my legs. So go you for doing this! And that little squirrel is adorable. :)
-Lauren
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hehehe, it was definitely an amazing workout! I was so exhausted afterward!