The Pike National Forest is located in the Front Range of Colorado, west of Colorado Springs and including Pikes Peak. The forest encompasses 1,106,604 acres (4,478 km²) within Clear Creek, Teller, Park, Jefferson, Douglas and El Paso counties, and is headquartered in Pueblo, Colorado. The major river draining the forest is the South Platte.

Pike National Forest is managed in association with San Isabel National Forest and Comanche National Grassland of Colorado, as well as Cimarron National Grassland of Kansas.

The forest is named after American explorer Zebulon Pike.

Pike National Forest was the location of the massive Hayman Wildfire of 2002.

Much of the bedrock within Pike National Forest is made up of the coarse, pink to orange Pikes Peak granite.

Wilderness areas

• Mount Evans Wilderness
• Lost Creek Wilderness

External links

• US Forest Service website

Geography of Colorado | National parks in Colorado | National Forests of Colorado