The Old Stagecoach Road

From Nevada Ave., South of Colorado Springs, go west on Lake Ave. towards the Broadmoor Hotel. Go right and circle behind the hotel until you get on El Pomar Road going south. When you reach Penrose Blvd. go to the left and continue south. Turn right and go uphill on Old Stage Coach Road. This is a seasonal route. While some portions of this route receive winter maintenance, much of it does not. Always check weather and road conditions prior to beginning travel. It is also a good idea to check with the US Forest Service or the BLM for Old Stage Coach Road. This road is patrolled by the US Forest Service. Old Stage Coach Road is a maintained, one and two lane sand road. There are steep cliffs, no guard rails, and washboard areas through out. It is suitable for all four and two wheel drive vehicles. It starts in Colorado Springs and ends at Shelf Road, which goes to either Victor Colorado, or Cripple Creek Colorado. There are no facilities on the actual road itself, so any food or drink that is wanted must be brought in with you. Old Stage Coach Road Winds around The Almagre Mountain, and is the 2nd highest peak on the Colorado Springs skyline, and is the only one other than Pikes that rises above treeline.Some people refer to Almagre as "Mount Baldy". In fact, Baldy is a sub-summit of Almagre. While the road is not difficult, and can be driven in a two wheel drive vehicle, it is the start for more difficult trails for hikers, atvs, and 4wd vehicles. The road has many pull offs, and parking areas for hikers and vehicles with atvs to park and unload, as well as photo opportunities. while we were there we drove down to the Penrose-Rosemont Reservoir, which can be seen from the road. While you cannot drive up to the bank of the reservoir, you can park and walk up to the bank. The lake is 83 acres and used for drinking water in Colorado Springs. For these reasons many special rules apply to this site. The lake shores are patrolled by Department of Wildlife employees and a resident caretaker regularly. Fishing is allowed with a fishing license. We did not go up to the lake but took the road going around it which is very rough in places with wash outs in the middle of the road. We found a pull off area, that had a creek running buy it from the lake for lunch. As always after lunch we took our trash out with us. Almost all of this road has a steep drop off on one side of the road or the other, and no guard rails. There are several areas of the road that were constructed by blasting through outcroppings of the mountian, which left high walls on either side of the road, and in one place a actual tunnel was constructed, which has massive wooden doors on either side which can be closed.