Devil’s Head Lookout Trail

Devil’s Head Lookout Trail

This spectacular viewpoint provides a commanding panorama from Pikes Peak to Mount Evans from a historic fire lookout tower built in 1912. The first woman fire lookout ranger in the U.S. Forest Service, Helen Dowe worked there from 1919 to 1921, and reported 16 fires in her first year alone. The tower was in a state of disrepair, until it was reconstructed in 1951 with the help of 100 men and 72 mules. Devil’s Head is the last remaining Front Range lookout tower and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The challenge is getting to the trailhead over the very rough, gravel Rampart Range Road. It doesn’t require four-wheel-drive, except during downpours, but you’ll need good shock absorbers and sound teeth for the sections of deep washboard. There is a campground that makes the long round-trip drive unnecessary. Rampart Range Road is an off-road vehicle mecca with trails paralleling almost the entire length of the road; so keep that in mind when you consider visiting; love ’em or leave ’em, you cannot avoid them. The Devil’s Head trail is nonmotorized.

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