Phantom Canyon is a canyon in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. The canyon is formed by Eight Mile Creek. The

Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad The Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad (F&CC) was a narrow-gauge railroad running northward from junctions with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad at the mill towns of Florence and later moved to Cañon City, Colorado, on the banks of the Arkansas ...

developed it as a route to take gold and supplies in and out of the Cripple Creek and

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

gold mining district. Phantom Canyon Road, a portion of the

Gold Belt Byway The Gold Belt Tour Scenic and Historic Byway is a National Scenic Byway, a Bureau of Land Management Back Country Byways, Back Country Byway, and a Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway located in Fremont County, Colorado, Fremont and Teller County, ...

that runs through the canyon, is an unpaved road connecting

Cañon City A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

and

. The road is popularly used for mountain biking and

off-roading Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicl ...

. Since 1996, Phantom Canyon has been designated an

Area of Critical Environmental Concern Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) is a conservation ecology program in the Western United States, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The ACEC program was conceived in the 1976 Federal Lands Policy and Management Act (FL ...

by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

(BLM). Information on camping in the canyon's undeveloped campsites and other recreational activities is available from the BLM Field Office in

References

{{authority control Canyons and gorges of Colorado Protected areas of Teller County, Colorado Protected areas of Fremont County, Colorado Nature reserves in Colorado Bureau of Land Management areas in Colorado Landforms of Teller County, Colorado Landforms of Fremont County, Colorado