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Seven Bridges LbNA #9144

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Jul 10, 2004
Location:
City:Colorado Springs
County:El Paso
State:Colorado
Boxes:1
Planted by:Kristen
Found by: BloodthirstyWombat
Last found:Jul 5, 2013
Status:FFFFFFFOFFFFFFF
Last edited:Jul 10, 2004
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 4.5 miles round trip
Elevation: 7,600 – 8,800
Kid-Friendly: No – it’s long and a lot of unsure footing
Dog Friendly: Yes – keep dogs on leash

You will need sturdy hiking boots, flashlight, and a glove or something to protect your hand when you reach into the crevice. Might want to pick up a stick along the way to poke into the hole in case critters are in there. Pack a lunch and blanket if you want to have a picnic by the babbling creek. There's no inkpad in the box, so bring your own.

Directions: Exit I-25 at Hwy 24 and take 24 west to 21st St. Turn left (south) on 21st St. (which becomes Cresta along the way) approximately 3 miles until you come to the stoplight at Cheyenne Blvd. Turn right (west) onto Cheyenne Blvd. (which becomes Cheyenne Rd. along the way) and go approximately 1 mile until you come to the Starsmore Discovery Center (2120 W. Cheyenne Rd.) at the entrance to North Cheyenne Cañon Rd. Turn right onto North Cheyenne Cañon Rd. and reset your trip odometer.

At the 0.4-0.5 mile mark, look up and you’ll see some great rock formations looming ahead of you. 2.5 miles marks Helen Hunt Falls and the Visitors Center, which has some good educational displays. There are also porta-potties here. Continue past the parking lot up a switchback road and at 3.1 miles, come to a dirt parking lot. Park here. You may meet a giant Husky dog that runs free here... the park knows about him and he’s friendly. He won’t bother you except to lay down in the shade behind your car so you can’t leave.

This trail is called Seven Bridges because you’ll be crossing.... seven bridges! There is an additional bridge that is mostly hidden by foliage, but it does not connect with the trail, so if you see it, disregard it.

Note: Number of steps is using both feet (left is 1, right is 2, etc...)

Start your hike on the dirt road on the northwest side of the parking lot. After a while, you’ll see two tall brown pipes sticking up on your right side, and then a sign that says “No vehicle use off this road”. At this point you can hear the creek and the trailhead is not far. Walk on the road until it crosses the creek. 25 steps further, you’ll see a trail off to the right. Take it, and you’ll see a rusted sign designating it North Cheyenne Canyon Creek trail, which is what it used to be called.

Follow the trail along the creek and cross the first bridge (no railings). This bridge is newly built by the friends of the park, thanks folks!

There’s a clearing here where you can put down a blanket and have a picnic lunch right next to the creek. From the 1st bridge, take a reading of 308 degrees and follow that to ensure you’re on the right trail. It should be almost directly ahead of you. When you get to a split, go left and see a sign that says “No motor vehicles”.

Cross 2nd bridge – has railings
Cross 3rd bridge – no railings
Cross 4th bridge – has railings
Cross 5th bridge – has railings
Cross 6th bridge – has railings

After you step off the 6th bridge, take 15 steps and on your left you will see a large rock wedged peculiarly against a tree.

41 more steps and you will see a large tree that had fallen across the trail, and was cut through to allow passage

41 more steps after that, and you will see a monstrous boulder on the left, looming over the trail. On the right side of the boulder as you face it, there’s a space where you can walk underneath it. There’s a pile of rocks underneath – the letterbox is hidden behind/under the largest of these. Use a flashlight to peer into the hole in case critters have set up house.

This trail is pretty busy so you’ll have to be discrete looking for the box and stamping in. Please make sure when you put the box back that it doesn’t fall out of reach. Don’t forget to continue on to find the 7th bridge (no railings). The trail continues past that, but I always turn back there. Be careful on the way down, footing can be bad.

On your way back, why not stop and check out the letterbox at Helen Hunt Falls/Silver Cascade Falls?