Reaching the Inteman Trail -From downtown, I took Cimarron, which turns into 24, and then turned left onto 8th St. Then I turned right onto Lower Gold Camp Road.
Stats - I hiked the from the trailhead on Lower Gold Camp Road (technically, an access trail to the Inteman Trail) to Crystal Park Road. The total hike was 6 miles roundtrip. It took me 3.5 hours, I hiked from 1:30-5:00 PM.
The trail -The trail is a beautiful jaunt that parallels and intersects with the Ring the Peak Trail -as such, it is relatively easy and flat and just rings around the outside of a bunch of hills. There are a lot of signs, so if you follow what it says on the Pikes Peak Atlas closely you should be fine.
Updates from Pikes Peak Atlas -It seems (looking at the maps posted on the trail, I did not hike them yet) that the right of way that was being negotated when the Pikes Peak Atlas was written has since been negotiated, so this trail can be continued past Crystal Park Road.
Other trail options from this route -
1) Take the same access trail from the trailhead off Lower Gold Camp Road to access the Section 16 Trails.
2) Where the Atlas says to turn right for the Inteman Trail, turn left to hike along the Ring the Peak Trail (and see Atlas map for options from that direction)
3) After you turn right onto the Inteman Trail from the access trail, a little ways down there is an option to turn right and access the Red Rocks Canyon trails.
4) You can keep hiking on the Inteman/Ring the Peak trails from Crystal Park Road where I turned around. See Atlas for additional options in this direction.
Notes -What is Crystal Park? It was weird to come upon an isolated, private, Christian based facility tucked within the folds of Pikes Peak's hills. (See photos below)
This one is not in my Wildflowers of Colorado Field Guide! I know I saw a sign for it somewhere -maybe Red Rocks Canyon. Update to come...
When you come to the intersection where the Atlas says to turn left for the Inteman trail, this is the sign if you were to turn to the right. Looks like some think this should be the Ute Trail!
A really handy trail map at the intersection where you turn right onto the Inteman Trail
Legend of said map
Grand view of the trails in this area. I started at the Section 16 Trailhead off Lower Gold Camp Road. This shows two other hike options I didn't discuss above -they may be Section 16 trails, I am not sure -the Waterfall Trail and the Parallel Trail. The red is where I turned right and turned off onto the Inteman Trail. The green is the "Ute Trai" sign pictured above.
This is the Western portion of the Inteman trail and its accesses. I stopped right at the bottom where the red trail changes to blue at Sheep Mountain. The rest of these trails seem to have been "negotiated" since the Atlas was made in 2009, apparently provide access to some schools in the area and other fun stuff so explore!
I was unsure when I was going to reach Crystal Park Road since it is not clear on the Atlas map. As shown here, you will pass an intersection with a trail that takes you to Red Rocks Canyon. After that, you will see a green water tank on the right (pictured below), and pretty soon after you will reach Crystal Park Road.
Here's some Inteman Trail info and history
Inteman Trail sign -the Inteman Trail parallels and at times is part of the Ring the Peak Trail.
I am venturing a guess that the two signs I have seen for the Ring the Peak trail -brown and green -indicate which direction you are going in. Sometimes it can be confusing. : )
Sand Lily
Millet in Colorado?!?
Another sign for another trail option
Trail buddy
Here is the water tank you see on the right soon before you get to Crystal Park Road. I think this water tank is on the Atlas as a black dot.
Crazy! So everyone pull the poor Toadflax...
Inteman Trail sign at the trailhead on Crystal Park Road
Ok. Thought about putting Wiley on a leash for a while but then just kept him close. Maybe I should let him roll in stinky animal poo as camo...
Crystal Park history
The Living God sure has a lot of land...
There is a bus stop for kids, a real estate office, all in this quaint little circle.