Tunnel Drive Trail

Views of the Arkansas River with bonus animals on the trail!

Sometimes I think Adam thinks I'm crazy because I would spend almost every weekend in the van exploring. It doesn't even have to be somewhere new, just a place that isn't our house. I love living in Colorado Springs. However, I've realized that I crave adventure and creativity, and I fulfill both of those needs when taking the van on trips. There is just so much to see and photograph!

Despite doing a solo trip to Lathrop State Park the previous weekend, I was ready to take the van out again. The weather over the weekend was forecasted to be chilly, so we decided to travel to Cañon City, a little over an hour south of the Springs. Adam planned some rides, I planned some hikes, and we found boondocking near Oil Well Flats.

Adam went with me on my first “hike,” which was actually more of a walk. Tunnel Drive Trail is a 2-mile trail along an old railroad bed. I was excited to see the tunnels, and ended up with a good story to tell.

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Because of the clouds and fog, the skies were very white in almost every shot. I knew I would edit many shots in black and white, but still tried to find interesting details to photograph.

You can’t have a “tunnel trail” without tunnels!

There was a third tunnel on this trail, and it was quite long. It was too challenging to photograph, considering it was likely the longest tunnel I’d ever been in on foot.

The fog kept creeping below the ridges. I struggled to photograph it “correctly,” but still enjoyed the expansive views of the Arkansas River and gorge.

It was too early for many wildflowers, and the ones that were blooming were closed because of the rain the previous evening.

We passed a couple on the trail that mentioned there was a herd of big horned sheep. They blended into the rocks about fifty feet above us really well!

Despite the gloom and chill in the air, I loved watching the fog. Colorado Springs gets 300 days of sunshine a year, so I try to enjoy those non-sunny days as well!

The clouds led to some cool shadows and patches of light.

I’m still thinking about the 2024 Iowa State Fair theme of “leading lines.” This might just be a black and white submission…

We made it to the end of the trail (out and back) and turned around to head back to the car. As we got to the part of the trail where we saw the big horned sheep, we noticed one had left the rocks and was hanging on the trail.

As we moved closer, more of the herd joined him.

We weren’t entirely sure what to do. The herd was about ten sheep so we were nervous about splitting them.

However, they were skittish adolescents. As we moved slowly and cautiously closer to them, they ran back onto the rocks.

I’ve only seen big horned sheep from a car window, so it was quite the experience to see a herd that close. I provided video commentary to my friends and family back home over Snapchat so they had some laughs at our expense.

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The trail did follow both the Arkansas River and the train tracks for the Royal Gorge Railroad.

The train finally passed by near the end of our hike, so I did the only Iowa nice thing I could and waved at all of the train cars and tried to point out the big horned sheep.

Do you want to know what it’s like being on the train through the Royal Gorge? You’ll have to wait for next week’s newsletter.

Cheers.