Entry No. 88 — the Colorado Springs file — filed under: haunted
Red Mountain
Everyone in Manitou grinds up the famous Incline — almost no one climbs the mountain right across the canyon, which is stranger and emptier. Red Mountain had its own scenic incline railway, built in 1912 and so steep it terrified riders; it limped along and died by 1922, leaving only the foundations of a summit dance pavilion and engine house up top. It's also the mountain Emma Crawford begged to be buried on — her fiancé and eleven townsfolk hauled her coffin up in 1891, and decades later the rains washed her bones back down the slope, which is why Manitou races coffins down Main Street every Halloween. The trail nearly traces the dead railway's grade to a 360° view of Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods, usually with no one else on it.
The move: Skip the Incline's stair-climbing crowds and take its empty twin instead — start by the Cog Railway / Iron Springs Chateau, hike the switchbacks up the old ghost-railway grade, and split a thermos at the pavilion ruins where Emma Crawford was once buried, the whole city laid out below.
📍 Before you go Steep, rocky out-and-back (~2.5 mi, moderate-to-difficult) — real shoes and water. Trailhead parking uses the same pay system as the Manitou Incline; start at the Cog Railway lot or the Iron Springs Trailhead.
- 📍 Manitou Springs
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: Red Mountain Trail — trailhead at the base of the Pikes Peak Cog Railway / Iron Springs Trailhead by Iron Springs Chateau, Ruxton Ave, Manitou Springs, CO 80829
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: manitouspringsheritagecenter.org · Facebook · visitcos.com · springsmag.com · 5280
last checked: 2026-06-27