Blodgett Peak is a mountain summit in
El Paso County,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
. Blodgett Peak is located in
Pike National Forest
The Pike National Forest is located in the Front Range of Colorado, United States, west of Colorado Springs including Pikes Peak. The forest encompasses 1,106,604 acres (4,478 km2) within Clear Creek, Teller, Park, Jefferson, Douglas and ...
.
and at its base is
Blodgett Peak Open Space of Colorado Springs.
Overview
The peak is located in the 167-acre Blodgett Peak Open Space along
Rampart Range
The Rampart Range is a mountain range in Douglas, El Paso, and Teller counties, Colorado. It is part of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The range is almost entirely public land within the Pike National Forest
The Pike National Forest ...
of the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
, which is a wildlife habitat, including the peregrine falcons, and trails for hiking. The terrain contains Pierre Shale, Fountain Formation, and Manitou Limestone. Flora includes scrub oak, Douglas fir, and ponderosa pine.
The peak is accessed from Woodmen Road in Colorado Springs.
It is northwest by west (
bearing 309°) of downtown
Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
.
Mountain
Blodgett Peak was named for a family that settled in an area now part of the Air Force Academy in the 19th century.
It was the 1959 runner-up site for the
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...
(NORAD) Hardened Combat Operations Center to the
command center
A command center (often called a war room) is any place that is used to provide centralized command for some purpose.
While frequently considered to be a military facility, these can be used in many other cases by governments or businesses ...
built in
Cheyenne Mountain
Cheyenne Mountain is a triple-peaked mountain in El Paso County, Colorado, southwest of downtown Colorado Springs. The mountain serves as a host for military, communications, recreational, and residential functions. The underground operations cen ...
. NORAD was particularly interested in a Colorado Springs location, and the Corps of Engineers recommended the selection of Cheyenne Mountain in March 1959.
The Blodgett Peak was burned during the 2012
Waldo Canyon fire. After the fire, the Blodgett Peak Restoration Project was initiated to develop soil and erosion control measures, remove dead trees along trails, plant trees, and reseed vegetation. There was a combined effort of
U.S. Forest Service crews, the Rocky Mountain Field Institute,
Air Force Academy
An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air for ...
cadets, and the Mile High Youth Corp to restore the trails, remove hazardous trees, install log erosion barriers and other erosion minimization approaches, and plant trees and seeds. Funding was provided by Pikes Peak Community Foundation and Great Outdoors Colorado totaling $75,000 in addition to monies raised by McCloskey Motors. A tour of the open space, including the undamaged areas, was conducted by the City of Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services on August 29, 2013, and the open space area was reopened. The open space was one of the first areas affected by the fire to reopen.
Hiking
The main route, and the most accessible, starts in the Blodgett Peak Open Space and is approximately round trip. The hike gains in elevation, with the trailhead starting at .
In March 2015, a man attempting to hike to the top of the peak was reported missing by relatives. After search teams were sent out, the man's body was found off of the trail among a boulder field. The trail is noted to be hard to navigate, especially since the Waldo Canyon Fire has changed the landscape and notable landmarks for hikers.
See also
*
List of Colorado mountain ranges
*
List of Colorado mountain summits
**
List of Colorado fourteeners
This is a list of mountain peaks in the U.S. State of Colorado that exceed of elevation.
In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a ''fourteener'' is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least 14,000 feet. This is a co ...
**
List of Colorado 4000 meter prominent summits
**
List of the most prominent summits of Colorado
The following sortable table comprises the 100 most topographically prominent mountain peaks of the U.S. State of Colorado.
Topographic elevation is the vertical distance above the reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea le ...
*
List of Colorado county high points
This is a list of all 64 counties of the U.S. State of Colorado by their points of highest elevation. Of the 50 highest county high points in the United States, 30 are located in Colorado. The highest point in Colorado is the summit of Mount ...
References
External links
Mountains of Colorado
Mountains of El Paso County, Colorado
North American 2000 m summits
Parks in Colorado
Tourist attractions in El Paso County, Colorado
Geography of Colorado Springs, Colorado
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