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| Pike National Forest | |
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| Location | Clear Creek,Douglas,El Paso,Jefferson,Park, andTeller counties,Colorado, United States |
| Nearest city | Colorado Springs, Colorado |
| Coordinates | 39°11′N105°19′W / 39.183°N 105.317°W /39.183; -105.317 |
| Area | 1,106,604 acres (4,478.27 km2) |
| Established | February 1892 |
| Governing body | U.S. Forest Service |
| Website | Pike and San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands |
ThePike National Forest is located in theFront Range ofColorado, United States, west ofColorado Springs includingPikes Peak. The forest encompasses 1,106,604 acres (4,478 km2) withinClear Creek,Teller,Park,Jefferson,Douglas andEl Paso counties. The major rivers draining the forest are theSouth Platte andFountain Creek.Rampart Reservoir is a large artificial body of water located within the forest.
The forest is named afterAmericanexplorerZebulon Pike.
Much of thebedrock within Pike National Forest is made up of the coarse, pink to orangePikes Peak granite.
Pike National Forest is managed in association withSan Isabel National Forest andComanche National Grassland in Colorado, as well asCimarron National Grassland inKansas and is headquartered inPueblo, Colorado. There are localranger district offices located in Colorado Springs,Fairplay andMorrison.[1]
The dryclimate of Pike National Forest makes it prime wildfire territory. The first recorded fires occurred in the 19th century. The forest was recently the location of theHayman Fire in 2002 and theWaldo Canyon Fire in 2012. The former burned 138,114-acre (558.93 km2) and 133 homes[2] while the latter burned 18,247-acre (73.84 km2) and 346 homes.[3]
The Pike and San Isabel National Forest was recently awarded a major reclamation project to fix the damage from the Hayman wildfire. The project was sponsored byThe National Arbor Day Foundation, in conjunction with several university bookstores. Pike and San Isabel was voted the winner from a group of three separate forests. The vote took place at www.buildaforest.com. The school that placed the most votes for Pike and San Isabel National Forest was theUniversity of Central Florida; the Pike and San Isabel National Forest will be a given a name honoring the effort by UCF students, alumni, and supporters.
There are three officially designatedwilderness areas lying within Pike National Forest that are part of theNational Wilderness Preservation System. Two of them extend into neighboring National Forests (as indicated).
Most of the forest experiences aHighland climate with warm summers and cold winters. Even in the summer,nights are cool due to the forest's high elevation. Temperatures and precipitation vary widely throughout the forest, depending on elevation. Most of the forest receives more than 100 inches of snow a year.
| Climate data for Ruxton Park, Colorado, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1959–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 62 (17) | 60 (16) | 66 (19) | 72 (22) | 81 (27) | 88 (31) | 89 (32) | 86 (30) | 84 (29) | 76 (24) | 69 (21) | 64 (18) | 89 (32) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 51.5 (10.8) | 51.6 (10.9) | 57.2 (14.0) | 62.6 (17.0) | 72.0 (22.2) | 80.3 (26.8) | 81.2 (27.3) | 77.6 (25.3) | 74.6 (23.7) | 68.5 (20.3) | 57.5 (14.2) | 52.2 (11.2) | 82.4 (28.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 38.7 (3.7) | 39.4 (4.1) | 45.1 (7.3) | 50.5 (10.3) | 59.4 (15.2) | 70.5 (21.4) | 74.0 (23.3) | 71.5 (21.9) | 65.9 (18.8) | 55.7 (13.2) | 46.0 (7.8) | 38.9 (3.8) | 54.6 (12.6) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 25.7 (−3.5) | 26.5 (−3.1) | 32.5 (0.3) | 38.0 (3.3) | 46.2 (7.9) | 56.3 (13.5) | 60.3 (15.7) | 58.1 (14.5) | 52.5 (11.4) | 42.7 (5.9) | 32.8 (0.4) | 26.0 (−3.3) | 41.5 (5.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 12.6 (−10.8) | 13.6 (−10.2) | 19.9 (−6.7) | 25.6 (−3.6) | 32.9 (0.5) | 42.1 (5.6) | 46.5 (8.1) | 44.6 (7.0) | 39.1 (3.9) | 29.8 (−1.2) | 19.5 (−6.9) | 13.0 (−10.6) | 28.3 (−2.1) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −9.3 (−22.9) | −9.4 (−23.0) | −2.7 (−19.3) | 4.2 (−15.4) | 16.0 (−8.9) | 27.6 (−2.4) | 34.2 (1.2) | 33.7 (0.9) | 22.4 (−5.3) | 8.2 (−13.2) | −4.0 (−20.0) | −10.6 (−23.7) | −15.1 (−26.2) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −35 (−37) | −33 (−36) | −21 (−29) | −18 (−28) | 3 (−16) | 14 (−10) | 24 (−4) | 23 (−5) | 4 (−16) | −10 (−23) | −25 (−32) | −28 (−33) | −35 (−37) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 0.74 (19) | 0.97 (25) | 1.88 (48) | 3.13 (80) | 2.55 (65) | 2.11 (54) | 3.89 (99) | 3.94 (100) | 1.93 (49) | 1.19 (30) | 0.85 (22) | 0.76 (19) | 23.94 (610) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 12.5 (32) | 13.6 (35) | 26.2 (67) | 32.3 (82) | 9.6 (24) | 0.4 (1.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 1.8 (4.6) | 10.4 (26) | 12.6 (32) | 14.1 (36) | 133.5 (339.6) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 4.8 | 5.5 | 6.7 | 8.5 | 10.3 | 10.6 | 16.2 | 16.8 | 8.8 | 5.8 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 104.5 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 5.1 | 5.5 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 3.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 41.9 |
| Source 1: NOAA[4] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: National Weather Service[5] | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Lake Moraine Weather Station (Elevation 10,240ft) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 56 (13) | 57 (14) | 61 (16) | 65 (18) | 73 (23) | 85 (29) | 82 (28) | 82 (28) | 75 (24) | 71 (22) | 60 (16) | 62 (17) | 85 (29) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 31.2 (−0.4) | 32.0 (0.0) | 35.2 (1.8) | 41.9 (5.5) | 50.5 (10.3) | 61.6 (16.4) | 65.9 (18.8) | 64.3 (17.9) | 59.5 (15.3) | 49.9 (9.9) | 39.9 (4.4) | 33.1 (0.6) | 47.1 (8.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 9.6 (−12.4) | 9.8 (−12.3) | 13.2 (−10.4) | 20.6 (−6.3) | 28.8 (−1.8) | 37.6 (3.1) | 41.8 (5.4) | 40.9 (4.9) | 35.6 (2.0) | 26.3 (−3.2) | 16.9 (−8.4) | 10.8 (−11.8) | 24.3 (−4.3) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −34 (−37) | −37 (−38) | −30 (−34) | −12 (−24) | −3 (−19) | 14 (−10) | 25 (−4) | 24 (−4) | 8 (−13) | −10 (−23) | −19 (−28) | −24 (−31) | −34 (−37) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 0.68 (17) | 0.91 (23) | 1.63 (41) | 2.92 (74) | 2.86 (73) | 2.44 (62) | 4.29 (109) | 3.80 (97) | 1.67 (42) | 1.42 (36) | 0.80 (20) | 0.73 (19) | 24.16 (614) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 11.7 (30) | 15.8 (40) | 25.4 (65) | 37.6 (96) | 19.6 (50) | 1.8 (4.6) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2.2 (5.6) | 12.4 (31) | 14.1 (36) | 12.0 (30) | 152.7 (388) |
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