Travel: Discover Pikes Peak Country in Colorado

When first driving into Colorado almost 30 years ago, I was overcome with amazement of the spectacular view of Pikes Peak. We were more than 100 miles from the mountain and we had just left Kansas not long before. We were on the plains of Eastern Colorado and Pikes Peak appeared to sit there by itself.

Pikes Peak is one of Colorado's 54 fourteeners and stands at 14,115 feet in elevation. It was discovered by in 1806 during the exploration of Colorado by Zebulon Pike. The peak was named after him for discovering it although he never made a successful ascent on it. The peak is made of granite rock and the ground around Pikes Peak is referred to as Pikes Peak granite. This material was formed by igneous activity more than a billion years ago. What we see now of the mountains of Colorado is a range that was uplifted around 60 million years ago.

The first ascent to the peak was made in 1820 by Edwin James. As a botanist, he made the first discovery of the blue Columbine (Aquilegia caerulea), which is the Colorado State Flower. The area around Pikes Peak is rich in these flowers and can be found in many valleys.

Other notable historic facts about the peak are the discovery of gold in 1858, the beginning of minting gold coins from the Pikes Peak gold and the inspiration to write the song America the Beautiful. Gold was discovered on the west side of the peak and the town of Cripple Creek was established as a gold mining town. Gold coins began to be minted in Denver shortly after. The phrase "Pikes Peak Gold" was added to the coins. In 1863, the Treasury Department purchased the mint and established the Denver Mint. While teaching English at Colorado College, Katherine Lee Bates wrote "America the Beautiful". It was in 1893 during a trip to the top of Pikes Peak that she was so inspired by the view. She wrote several versions of the poem until the final version she produced in 1913.