GCJKNE SON OF Treasure of the Abandoned Railroad Tunnels
Type: Traditional | Size: Micro | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Placed by ljirvin, Adopted by My3KidsDad @ | Hide Date: 06/02/2004 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N38° 52.565 W104° 56.028 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 26
           

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When you are done dropping your cash at all the tourist traps in the Pikes Peak area get ready for a real – and completely free – adventure. This search takes you down the canyon across an abandoned railroad trace. Along the way, you’ll be walking through tunnels built by the railroad over 120 years ago.

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There’s a short, steep, mildly difficult incline to get to the trace. After that initial challenge it’s an easy and level walk to the cache area. You’ll be amazed at the beauty and history so close to town that goes unnoticed by the vast majority of people. Sometimes the best-kept secrets are right under our noses!

First, park your car at this grassy area between the divided highway north of Manitou Springs: N38.52.608 W104.56.285. THIS REALLY IS THE BEST SPOT TO PARK ALTHOUGH IT'S A BIT TRICKY GETTING ACROSS THE HIGHWAY.

(If you are coming up from Manitou or Colorado Springs you’ll need to drive past the parking area coordinates to the turn-around at N38.52.914 W104.57.029 then make a u-turn back down the pass).

Cross the highway on foot (careful! I am a paramedic and I don't want to meet you at this point) and walk to the trailhead a short distance away: N38.52.587 W104.56.257.

Set your GPS unit to the top of the incline N38.52.562 W104.56.241 and look up in that direction. You’ll see the outline of the old railroad line. This is the path you are aiming for. This incline is the hardest part of the journey. Carefully scale up the canyon wall to the trace and the rest is smooth and easy!

You will have trouble finding the exact coordinates because they are inside one of the tunnels where there is no GPS reception.

Be sure to visit "Treasure of the Abandoned Railroad Tunnels" (GCGEYH) as well, only .52 miles away!

Additional Waypoints

PKJKNE - Park Car Here
N 38° 52.608 W 104° 56.285
Parking accessed from eastbound lane. Park in the median between the divided highway.
THJKNE - Trailhead
N 38° 52.587 W 104° 56.257
Trailhead. Please be very careful crossing the highway. Patience is the key on a busy day.
UTJKNE - U-Turn To Parking Area
N 38° 52.914 W 104° 57.029
If traveling westbound from Manitou use this turnaround to get to the parking area.

06/17/2019 By NYC-Boy
A great place, found it.
TFTC

06/16/2019 By YamaGypsy
After hiking the incline today Lemonheadmafia apparently wasn't worn out enough. My daughter is here visiting for the summer so he suggested we bring her up here to explore. It took a bit, but we finally found the cache. There is a tent now down at the end of the tunnel. No one appeared home while we were there. Lonely cache, but in good shape. Sl, thanks!

12/30/2017 By JandBMurphy
We looked and looked and looked. There is so much trash in the tunnel, I wondered if someone messed with the cache. Fun hike but a bummer not to find!

09/04/2017 By stub45
Awesome area. Wouldn't have found this hidden gem if there wasn't a cache there. Had an adventure getting to the cache and back to make it memorable. Thanks for bringing me here. Too bad there was so much graffiti and that the related caches aren't active anymore.

09/04/2017 By STÜBBIFIED
Hell of a hide. We parked the bikes close... Like just under the tunnel in the road. Crashed cross the river flowing fast. Scrambled up the loose rock to reach the tunnel. Once there, we explored the tunnel and eventually grabbed the hide.
Deep in the dark

07/16/2017 By COpackrat
This was an interesting retrieval - I was glad that WingsAndTales was holding the light!! Thanks for the hide.

07/02/2016 By VViseguy
Enjoyed this cache as it pointed out some history and a little adventure. Parked statically in the suggested spot but booked it to GZ. Got cache and returned before discovered. Fun tym!
rail tunnel

07/02/2016 By camsoradap
Driving down towards Manitou Springs and I noticed this one on the map. Sounded like a fun adventure so we decided to try it, despite the iffy parking. Followed the instructions and quickly made it to the final. Interesting spot. Looks like someone was living right by the cache but it was still there. Thanks for pointing this out!

05/22/2016 By Paurian
Police stopped us right as we entered the trail head. Do not park at the CO's suggested spot or you can get a ticket or your car towed. ZOIKS!

05/22/2016 By Paurian
Police stopped us right as we entered the trail head. Do not park at the CO's suggested spot or you can get a ticket or your car towed. ZOIKS!

03/12/2016 By Bokmeow
wow that was a fun one! glad we had our headlamps. :) such a cool thing, geocaching, to take us places we never knew existed for an adventure right outside our back door. :) I think I would have rated this difficulty higher. :) very fun. really enjoyed this trail.

03/06/2016 By chiquita's bunch
We nervously parked our van near one of the "No Parking" signs and hoped we wouldn't return to find it towed or with a ticket (luckily neither of those happened). Made the mad dash across the busy highway and then hiked up the not too tough incline to reach the abandoned railroad bed. Took way longer than necessary since we started at the wrong end of the tunnel (duh!), once we were in the right area we found it pretty quickly. Learned from a couple passing through that the anchors in the wall & ceiling of the tunnel are for ice climbing practice. Dropped off a little Geico Lizard TB. Thanks for highlighting this awesome trail & tunnels, gets another fave vote from us.

Heading Uphill

Somewhat Snowy Trail
Tunnel Madness
Hardware Hanging Around