El Paso County, Colorado

El Paso County is in east-central Colorado. The county is bounded on the west by the Front Range and extends eastward into the Great Plains. The Air Force Academy is here, as is the Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak and the US Olympic Training Center. Beautiful area but lots of people, and more coming all the time. With all the "Anywhere, USA" construction around, if I didn't see Pikes Peak nearby I'd think Colorado Springs was somewhere in California.

El Paso was the Spanish name for Ute Pass, on the north side of Pikes Peak. Ute Pass was of great importance during the days of the Pike's Peak gold rush. El Paso County contains 2,126 square miles of land and 3 square miles of water. The county seat is Colorado Springs.