The ultimate soundtrack for these Front Range quad-burners
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The stairs at Red Rocks. Photo: Craig F. Walker/The Denver Post via Getty Images
A good tune can carry you up a brutal trail, and Colorado's Front Range is basically a StairMaster with views.
State of play: With hiking season upon us, we picked the tracks we'd queue up for these stairways to heaven.
Flatirons Trail and Royal Arch (Boulder): A steep and scrappy climb demands a song with a similar vibe.
- "Colorado Girl" by Townes Van Zandt. He's going out to Denver, but he probably stopped by Boulder first, to find my loving Colorado girl, Ralphie.
Red Rocks (Jeffco): Look, it's hard to narrow down a song choice for Colorado's premier music venue, but we're going with Tom Petty's ferocious, jangly classic "American Girl" — which he performed during stops here in 2010 and 2017.
Mother Cabrini Shrine (Jeffco): Maybe it's too easy, but the solemn and popular composition of "Ave Maria" by Franz Schubert matches perfectly with the Cabrini Shrine's tranquility.
Devils Head Lookout (SW of Castle Rock): There's something about banging out those last yards of a sweet ascent while hitting a windmill on the air guitar of Van Halen's "Runnin' with the Devil."
- Living life like there's no tomorrow, indeed.
Challenge Hill (Castle Rock): Turn this calf-burner into No-Challenge Hill with a certified classic, like "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.
Rueter-Hess Incline (Parker): A favorite among the early morning crew, this climb gets the endorphins flowing. Take me higher? Nah, man, I just got a PB on this bad boy, and I have to catch my Zoom meeting.
- "Higher" by Creed.
Stairway to Heaven, Air Force Academy: Seems like this 311-stair entry would write itself, but "No Stairway. Denied," since you need someone with a military ID to get to the climb, and the academy is currently closed to all recreational visitors. But if you do get in …
- "Under Pressure," by Queen and David Bowie, in honor of the academic and physical pressures cadets face.
Manitou Incline (Manitou Springs): Tackling all 2,768 steps requires a level of funky positivity that only Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" can give.
Seven Falls (Colorado Springs): "Waterfalls," by TLC. Throw it back.
Great Sand Dunes National Park: Fun fact, dunes can "sing," creating a low droning noise as sand falls downslope.
- If that's not your jam — "A Horse With No Name," by America.
Bishop Castle (Rye): The outlaw vibes of the castle, mirrored by the creator's life story, pair well with some "Whiskey in the Jar," by Metallica.
Axios' Mitchell Byars, John Frank, Esteban L. Hernandez and Robert Sanchez contributed to this story.