The Pike National Forest is located in the Front Range

Front Range

The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the north-central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered moving west along the 40th parallel north across...

 of Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, USA, west of Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...

 and including Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak is a mountain in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, west of Colorado Springs, Colorado, in El Paso County in the United States of America....

. The forest encompasses 1,106,604 acres (4,478 km²) within Clear Creek

Clear Creek County, Colorado

Clear Creek County is one of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 9,322 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Georgetown...

, Teller

Teller County, Colorado

Teller County is the 22nd most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 20,555 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Cripple Creek, and the most populous city is Woodland Park...

, Park

Park County, Colorado

Park County is the 17th most extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county was named after the large geographic region known as South Park, which was named by early fur traders and trappers in the area. The geographic center of the State of Colorado is...

, Jefferson

Jefferson County, Colorado

Jefferson County , whose slogan is the "Gateway to the Rocky Mountains", is the fourth most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Located along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Jefferson County is adjacent to the west side of the state capital, Denver....

, Douglas

Douglas County, Colorado

Douglas County is the eighth most populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado, in the United States. The county is located midway between Colorado's two largest cities: Denver and Colorado Springs...

 and El Paso

El Paso County, Colorado

El Paso County is the most populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States, now more populous than Denver County. The United States Census Bureau concluded that the county population was 622,371 in 2010. In recent years, the population had come closer to that of Denver...

 counties. The major rivers draining the forest are the South Platte

South Platte River

The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River and itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/Mountain West, located in the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska...

 and Fountain Creek

Fountain Creek

Fountain Creek is a stream in El Paso and Pueblo counties, in Colorado in the United States.-Geography:From its source near the city of Woodland Park north of Pikes Peak, the creek flows southeast through the communities of Green Mountain Falls and Chipita Park to the town of Cascade. It...

. Rampart Reservoir

Rampart Reservoir

Rampart Reservoir or Rampart Range Reservoir is a reservoir northwest of the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado in Pike National Forest. The reservoir is located on a granite plateau approximately above sea level, and consists of a body of water with a capacity of...

, a large artificial body of water, is located within the forest.

The forest is named after American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 explorer

Exploration

Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...

 Zebulon Pike

Zebulon Pike

Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr. was an American officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a United States Army captain in 1806-1807, he led the Pike Expedition to explore and document the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase and to find the headwaters of the Red River,...

.

Much of the bedrock

Bedrock

In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...

 within Pike National Forest is made up of the coarse, pink to orange Pikes Peak granite

Pikes Peak granite

The Pikes Peak granite is a widespread geologic formation found in the central part of the Front Range of Colorado. The granite gets its name from the mountain Pikes Peak, which is made up almost entirely of the distinctive, brick-red rock...

.
Pike National Forest is managed in association with San Isabel National Forest

San Isabel National Forest

San Isabel National Forest is located in central Colorado. The forest contains 19 of the state's 54 fourteeners, peaks over high, including Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado....

 and Comanche National Grassland

Comanche National Grassland

Comanche National Grassland is a National Grassland located in southeastern Colorado, United States. It is the sister grassland of Cimarron National Grassland and contains both prairie grasslands and canyons. It is separated into two sections, each operated by a local ranger district, one of which...

 in Colorado, as well as Cimarron National Grassland

Cimarron National Grassland

Cimarron National Grassland is a National Grassland located in Morton County, Kansas, United States, with a very small part extending eastward into Stevens County. Cimarron National Grassland is located near Comanche National Grassland which is across the border in Colorado...

 in Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

 and is headquartered in Pueblo, Colorado

Pueblo, Colorado

Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....

.