Ruxton Park is a park in

Manitou Springs Manitou Springs is a home rule municipality located at the foot of Pikes Peak in western El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The town was founded for its natural mineral springs. The downtown area continues to be of interest to traveler ...

El Paso County, Colorado El Paso County is the List of counties in Colorado, most populous county in the U.S state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 730,395, surpassing the city and county of Denver. The county seat is ...

at in elevation. The

Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway (also known as the Pikes Peak Cog Railway) is a cog railway that climbs one of the most iconic mountains in the United States, Pikes Peak in Colorado. The base station is in Manitou Springs, ne ...

, which departs from the depot at in elevation, climbs into

Englemann Canyon Englemann Canyon (also spelled Engleman's Canon) is a valley along Ruxton Creek, in Manitou Springs Manitou Springs is a home rule municipality located at the foot of Pikes Peak in western El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The town ...

along

Ruxton Creek Ruxton Creek is a stream in Manitou Springs in El Paso County, Colorado. Named for British explorer and writer of the southwest, George Fredrick Augustus Ruxton, it is one of three main drainage basins in Manitou Springs. Ruxton Creek flows out o ...

. It passes by the site of the Halfway Hotel and then Ruxton Park at mile marker 3 on the 8.9 mile trip to

Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the List of mountain ranges of Colorado#Mountain ranges, highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. The Ultra-prominent peak, ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, ...

summit. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, it was a small town established along Ruxton Creek near

Iron Springs, Colorado Iron Springs, a neighborhood in Manitou Springs, Colorado, was an area named for one of Manitou Mineral Springs. The Manitou area had been frequented by Native Americans who considered it a sacred and healing place before European Americans settle ...

(now

). Since 1925, it has been the site of a hydroelectric plant owned by the city of

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

and a weather station. Ruxton Park was only inhabited by a caretaker for the plant from 1930 to 2008, when the plant was fully automated.

History

In 1884, Thomas Palsgrove and his family lived in a cabin that was on a trail to the summit of Pike's Peak. They provided coffee and doughnuts as refreshments for hikers. He then began expansion of the cabin along Ruxton Creek that eventually was the Halfway Hotel with 22 rooms and was run by John Palsgrove by 1903. Thomas and his brothers developed the site and in 1890 platted the streets for a town named Ruxton Park below the timber line where Ruxton and Sheep Creeks meet. Cabins were built on several sold lots. The Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway was built in 1890, which brought tourists to the top of Pike's Peak beginning June 30, 1891. The first third of the trip is alongside Ruxton Creek. A stop was made at Ruxton Park where tourists could eat a meal at the "pleasant" Halfway Hotel. Ruxton Park was described as an area of aspen trees, pine trees and flowers—surrounded by Pike's Peak, Mt. Rosa, Cameron's Cone and other peaks. Wealthy families from the western states had houses in the town where they sought the cooler mountain temperatures during the summers. The town had a "fancy tourist hotel", water tower, and post office. In 1925, a water utility power plant was built for $16,866 and opened in Ruxton Park by the city of

. The stone hydroelectric plant generates electricity as Ruxton Creek flows into Manitou Springs from the mountain. A caretakers house was built in 1930 and from that time to 2008, nine Colorado Springs Utilities employees have lived there six months of the year, running the Ruxton Hydroelectric Plant and taking measurements for the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

. In 2008, the plant was fully automated. The city bought some of the town lots and maintained several houses, a garage, and storage buildings in Ruxton Park. The cabins are now part of the "rusted weather-beaten ruins" that remain. Although the power plant continues to operate, there is no longer a caretaker that lives in Ruxton Park. There are sometimes caretakers who oversee the reservoir who may stay in the house in Ruxton Park. It can be accessed via a hike or a automobile trip over rough back roads.

Notes

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External links

{{Coord, 38, 50, 29.96, N, 104, 58, 30.92, W, display=title Manitou Springs, Colorado Parks in El Paso County, Colorado Former populated places in El Paso County, Colorado Ghost towns in Colorado