Entry No. 47 — the Colorado Springs file — filed under: outdoor
Pancake Rocks Trail
Everyone at this trailhead is going to Horsethief Falls — the easy mile-and-a-bit to a waterfall. Almost nobody keeps climbing. Bear right and you trade the crowd for switchbacks through pine and shimmering aspen, past meadow views of jagged Sentinel Rock, until the forest opens onto Pancake Rocks: enormous slabs of weathered granite stacked like a giant's short stack, perched at the edge of a drop with the whole Pikes Peak country rolling out below. It's a genuinely strange geological payoff that you earn — steeper and longer than the falls, which is exactly why it stays quiet while the waterfall fills up.
The move: Make the climb itself the date. Split one trailhead, skip the waterfall everyone stops at, and grind the extra miles up through the aspens together — Sentinel Rock keeps you company on the way. Top out, find a flat pancake slab to sit on, and split whatever you hauled up in your pack while the valley drops away beneath your feet. Time it for late September and the aspens turn the whole climb gold.
📍 Before you go A roughly 6-mile out-and-back (sources range 5.9–6.3 mi round trip) climbing about 1,200–1,700 ft to stacked granite "pancake" formations near 11,050 ft. Rated moderate-to-difficult: most of the grunt-work climbing is front-loaded, and you'll feel the thin air if you're not acclimated — don't make it your day-one Colorado hike. It's free, no permit or fee, on Pike National Forest land; there are no bathrooms, no water, and no reliable cell service, so come self-sufficient. Best late spring through fall, with golden aspens peaking late September into early October. Snow lingers into spring and returns by late fall — winter trips need microspikes or snowshoes. The high country brews fast afternoon thunderstorms; start early and be off the exposed top before they build. Hwy 67 is a maintained paved road. You share the trailhead with Horsethief Falls — bear right/uphill at the junction for Pancake Rocks rather than dropping to the falls.
- 📍 Divide / Pikes Peak region (Pike National Forest)
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: Horsethief Park / Horsethief Falls trailhead — a gravel turnout on the east side of Hwy 67, beside an old closed railroad tunnel, roughly 9 miles south of Divide. From Colorado Springs: west on US-24 to Divide (~25 mi), left/south onto CO-67 toward Cripple Creek, ~9 mi to the unmarked tunnel pullout on your left. No sign says "Pancake Rocks" — watch for the big turnout and the tunnel.
Hours: Day-use, free. Best season: Late spring through fall; aspen gold late September–early October. Confirm trail & road conditions before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4
last checked: 2026-06-10