Colorado's Rueter-Hess Incline Now Open To Climbers

Colorado hikers now have a new climbing challenge to tackle.

The Rueter-Hess Incline near Parker, between Denver and Castle Rock is now open and ready for climbers.

Everybody knows about the amazing Manitou Incline at Colorado Springs, featuring a 2000 foot elevation gain over the course of 2,744 steps. Welcome to Colorado's new incline that might be the one that preps you for Manitou.

The Rueter-Hess Incline is a mere 132 steps - but every step is uphill. The newly-built incline is part of what's called the Rosie Rueter Trail Loop, which is just over a mile in length from the parking lot.

Clearly, the Rueter-Hess Incline is nothing compared to the Manitou Incline, but, it's still a good heart-pounding workout. It would be pretty cool to live close enough that you could do the climb several times a week and make it a regular part of your workout regimen. It might be fun to challenge yourself to see how fast you can make the climb up and down, as long as the steps aren't crowded with people.

I wonder if we could have our own western Colorado incline on the lower section of the Mt. Garfield hike. We would simply call it the Garfield Incline. That would be pretty cool.

Since the Garfield Incline is not a reality and the Manitou Incline may be biting off more than you can chew, the new Rueter-Hess Incline might just be the perfect solution. If you want to give it a try the next time you're on the front range, just head south of Denver on I-25 to the Ridgegate Parkway Exit 192.