Barr Trail

The route

Barr Trail is the standard walk-up route on Pikes Peak. It starts at the trailhead above Manitou Springs at about 6,700 ft and finishes on the 14,115 ft summit, roughly 12 miles and 7,500 ft of climbing later. It is the longest single ascent of any Colorado fourteener and the route the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon follow each September.

The first three miles are the Ws, a stack of switchbacks up the face of Mount Manitou that pass the top of the Incline and level out near No Name Creek. The middle section eases through the forest to Barr Camp at about mile 6.5 (10,200 ft), the cabin where most hikers refill water. Above camp the trail steepens again to the A-Frame shelter near treeline at about 11,500 ft, then the last three miles cross the open tundra on the east face, finishing through the 16 Golden Stairs, the final set of tight rocky switchbacks below the summit house.

Most people go up in a day, starting well before dawn to be off the summit before afternoon storms, and either ride the cog railway or catch a shuttle down. Runners and strong hikers do the full out-and-back.

What the sculpture shows

One ribbon from the valley floor to the summit, with the tight zigzag of the Ws low on the route and the long tundra traverse across the east face at the top. Pikes Peak stands alone above the plains, so the massif fills the piece. Around 7,500 ft of relief over 12 miles means big, readable vertical even in the small size.