Colorado -- just the name brings to mind majestic landscapes and startling panoramas dominated by snow-capped peaks, creased by spectacular canyons and rimmed by distant mesas and buttes.

The Colorado Springs area has many scenic drives that will take you through a cross section of the best that Colorado has to offer. Drive dusty dirt roads that follow steam train rail beds from the 1800s, bump along old stage coach routes, or drive the highway up to Pikes Peak.

If you're looking for ghost towns, old mines and homesteads, beautiful waterfalls and streams, mountain meadows covered in wildflowers, or amazing rock formations, you'll find it along the scenic byways surrounding Colorado Springs.

Situated in the Pike National Forest, Rampart Range Road was built during the Great Depression of the 1930s by the Civil Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC was a brainchild of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to help cure the economic woes of our nation. It is a monument to men who bivouacked in tents for months and faced the elements and nature to build a road that still is in use today by local residents and tourists alike.

Rampart Range Road begins in Garden of The Gods city park and snakes a path some 60 miles in a northerly direction ending at Highway 67 between Sedalia and Deckers. There are absolutely no services along Rampart Range Road and very few "exits" along the way. The first chance to actually get off the road is a turn into Woodland Park and the other "exit" is near Monument, just behind the United States Air Force Academy.

See more photos of Rampart Range Road!

The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railroad was called "The Short Line."

It started in 1901, and featured the most direct route between Colorado Springs and the gold camp district.

When the railroad was abandoned it became a private toll road called "The Corley Mountain Highway" and is now a scenic dirt road maintained by the U.S. Forest Service, and El Paso and Teller Counties.

The road has train tunnels, ghost towns, old homesteads, ranches, amazing rock formations, streams, Jeep trails, wildlife, and loads of history.

Panoramic views of the mountains and Pikes Peak, rolling hills and meadows and views of the distant Sangre de Cristo mountains are seen along the road. Get a Map!

See more photos of Gold Camp Road!

In 1892, Caņon City completed the Shelf Road, the first stage route linking the Arkansas Valley with the Cripple Creek Mining District.

Shelf Road is 33 miles long and stretches from Canon City to Cripple Creek, following both Four Mile Creek and Cripple Creek. It clings to abrupt canyon slopes below limestone cliffs and provides some of the best rock climbing in the state with hundreds of established routes for rock climbers in the Shelf Road Climbing Area.

The road drops into Helena Canyon, which offers stunning scenery and dramatic drop-offs. The Morrison Foundation is along the road just outside Canon City, and is a thick layer of sandstone, mudstone, siltstone and shale and was deposited on a vast, swampy floodplain along the edge of a retreating sea during the Jurassic times almost 150 million years ago. Get a Map!

See more photos of Shelf Road!

In 1892, Florence, Colorado completed the Florence and Cripple Creek Free Road through Phantom Canyon. In 1894, the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad (F&CC) replaced that road. This narrow gauge railroad quickly became the major transportation link between the gold camps and the Arkansas Valley.

Twelve stations were established along the F&CC Railroad grade to service the trains hauling coal and supplies upgrade and gold ore downgrade to Florence's smelters.

With station and town names such as Cramer, Wilbur, Adelaide, McCourt, and Dale, the Phantom Canyon Road now is a 31-mile dirt road that is passenger car accessible.

The remains of water tanks, old homesteads and town sites dot the road. The old train trestles and bridges have been renovated for cars and two of the old train tunnels from 1895 still exist. Rock formations such as Liberty Rock and Standing Bear provide some great photographs. Pinyon pine, juniper, cactus and yucca highlight the lower elevation while spruce, fir and pine trees dot the upper elevations of the drive.

Stories are told of strange occurrences in the canyon, which prompted the name of Phantom Canyon. Get a Map!

See more photos of Phantom Canyon Road!

The most visited mountain in North America and the second most visited mountain in the world behind Japan's Mount Fuji, Pikes Peak forms a stunning backdrop for Colorado Springs and the Garden of the Gods. At an altitude of 14,110 feet above sea level, Pikes Peak is the 31st highest peak out of 54 Colorado peaks. The 19-mile Pikes Peak Highway, paved part of the way, is open year round, weather permitting.

The Pikes Peak Highway begins just West of Colorado Springs and climbs 6,710 feet from the toll gate to the summit. It is a 60-mile round trip to the summit from Colorado Springs. The final 11 miles are unpaved. Carved into the side of the mountain, the final stretch has hairpin curves, no guard rails and steep drop offs. Get a Map!

See more photos of Pikes Peak Highway!