Looking for a great summer getaway? Put Colorado Springs on your shortlist.
An inexpensive flight from many U.S. cities, phenomenal outdoors activities, history, and a great local food scene — this city on the edge of the Rocky Mountains offers visitors a wide range of options. Whether you’re looking for a long weekend destination, or planning an extended vacation, you’ll find plenty of things to do in the Colorado Springs area.
Outdoors
Garden of the Gods
No trip to Colorado Springs would be complete without a visit to Garden of the Gods, which is a National Natural Landmark. The 1,367 acre park lies next to Pike National Forest — home to Pikes Peak at 14,115 feet, and nicknamed “America’s Mountain.” Garden of the Gods is famous for its breathtaking red rock formations; if you’re a photographer, you’ll want to plan a morning or late afternoon visit to catch the rocks in great light.
The park has fifteen miles of hiking trails, ranging from the easy and popular Central Garden Trail (1.5 miles and wheelchair accessible) to the more challenging Chamber/Bretag/Palmer loop. Access to Garden of the Gods and its Visitor and Nature Center is free! Find out more about Garden of the Gods, along with other available activities, here.
Pikes Peak or Bust!
Once you’ve seen Garden of the Gods, head next door to visit Pikes Peak. Whether you choose to drive, or challenge yourself by climbing Pikes Peak, you’ll want to spend some time on this beautiful mountain. Travelers can drive up to the 16-mile point, then take a free shuttle to the summit.
If you’re driving, plan to spend two to three hours to make it to the summit and back. The last time I visited, I took a picnic lunch, stopped in one of the picnic areas and spent some time enjoying the amazing alpine scenery. Other options: fishing at one of the three lakes, hiking, or poking around in one of the gift shops. You say you’d like to climb Pikes Peak? Check out route information and difficulty here. Driving Pikes Peak? You’ll find additional info to plan your visit here.
Other great outdoor activities in the Colorado Springs area: whitewater rafting down the Arkansas River through the stunning Royal Gorge, taking a morning hot air balloon ride with one of the local companies, going horseback riding, or exploring Cave of the Winds. Explore your options here.
Ever tried fly fishing?
Anyone who loved A River Runs Through It, but has never tried fly fishing themselves, might consider staying at the historic Broadmoor Hotel. The Broadmoor Fly Fishing Camp is one of the many activities available to guests, and they offer fly fishing instruction, from a one hour casting lesson to a full five-hour fishing school.
History
When you’ve had enough of the great outdoors, and want to change gears, Colorado Springs and its surrounding area have amazing history and great places to visit.
Many of my readers know I am a complete nut when it comes to World War II warbirds. It follows that as far as I’m concerned, any vacation in Colorado Springs MUST include a visit to the National World War II Aviation Museum. They have an amazing collection of WWII planes — most of them still flying!
I love the history of Colorado. From the native peoples, to explorers and early settlers, to the race to cross the continent by rail, it’s all here — playing out against the dramatic backdrop of the Rocky Mountains.
William Jackson Palmer founded Colorado Springs in 1871, and started construction on his home, called Glen Eyrie, in the same year.
He’d first seen the area in the 1860’s while surveying for the Kansas Pacific Railroad, and thought it would make a fine resort town. With that plan in mind, he purchased land for an estate of his own in a narrow box canyon near Garden of the Gods. The original house was a large clapboard construction, handsome, but nowhere near the imposing mansion it is today.
Palmer sold Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad in 1901 and retired to Colorado Springs, turning his focus to building and enlarging Glen Eyrie into the stone Tudor structure it is today, with sixty-seven rooms, twenty fireplaces, and the Book Room — a space large enough to hold gatherings for more than 300 people. Palmer enjoyed his beautiful home for only a few years. A horseback riding accident in 1906 left him paralyzed, and he passed away in 1909.
Today, Glen Eyrie Castle operates as a conference center. You can experience this part of Colorado Springs history in several ways: tour the castle, have high tea, and stay overnight.
Visitors interested in the history of the area might want to head for the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, housed in a granite building that was the El Paso County Courthouse from 1903-1973.
The whole area is rich in living history, and you’ll have plenty of options to choose from: explore Ghost Towns and hauntings, get gold fever in the old mining town of Cripple Creek, or simply wander Old Colorado City, the historic core of Colorado Springs. Explore options for history and heritage here!
Time to Kick Back and Relax
Good food, great drinks? Count me in! Colorado Springs is home to over 30 specialty drink places, including micro breweries, distilleries, and coffee spots. If you wanted to, you could spend your whole vacation digging into the local beer, cocktail, and scene and leave all the sight-seeing to someone else.
There’s an app for that!
If you’d like to explore craft beverages angle in Colorado Springs, download the the Crafts and Drafts Passport, and do it at a discounted rate 🙂 .
The only problem with Colorado Springs?
At the end of the day, what you find is that there are so many great things to do here, you can’t possibly jam it all into one trip. But that’s okay — Colorado Springs will be right there waiting, the next time your need a little rest and relaxation!
This post was sponsored by the Colorado Springs CVB.
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Colorado Springs has a good range of sights. The outdoors was interesting, the history is indeed amazing. The connection with WWII is interesting. The Aviation Museum will surely figure in my list.
Colorado Springs looks like a complete package for nature lovers. Garden of the Gods will be my fav spot specially during golden hour to shoot sun rise and sun set. Would love to experience rare fly fishing also.
It is a great spot for photography. Something about the red rock — I just love it.
Colorado as a whole is such a beautiful place. One of these days I will spend some time in Colorado Springs and explore these great places. I’ve heard so many great things about Garden of the Gods. My friend who lives in Colorado is a fly fisherwoman and she wants to take me to try it out. Looks like Colorado Springs would be a great place to try.
I’d love to try fly fishing — and the Broadmoor looks like an outstanding place to learn. It’s one my list for my next trip up there 🙂 .
How interesting to learn about this place that is just within reach of my home. I haven’t spent much time in Colorado, but now I’ll have to consider Colorado Springs at least. Especially to visit the Garden of the Gods! That sounds like a fun area for me!
You’re so lucky that Colorado Springs is close to you!
This takes me way back, to my first trip to the U.S. when I was 18, in 1996. We visited Colorado Springs and the Garden of the Gods was my first glimpse of the Rockies and the West. Didn’t visit anything else, unfortunately, so this is a good teaser for going back one of these days.
I’ve been to Colorado Springs several times, because when I drive from Texas, it’s on the way to many other places in the Rocky Mountains — and I STILL have things there I haven’t gotten to — which is great.
Going for hiking in Colorado Springs looks like one thing I would really enjoy doing! Gardens of the Gods and Pikes Peak also looks really nice. Colorado Springs is so picturesque, I had no idea!
It is a beautiful area. There are SO many outdoor adventure activities to do around Colorado Springs that you’d be hard pressed to get them all into a single trip.
My husband’s daughter and family live in Westminster so we have made a trip to the Garden of the Gods once. I didn’t know how much more there is to enjoy in the area! We will go back.
Loved your description of the Garden of the Gods, I’ve never seen that, and I’d also be tempted by fly fishing at the Broadmoor Hotel. It really feels like there is a lot to do, and having an app would really help.
Yes, Colorado Springs and the surrounding area have a wealth of activities to choose from — can hardly wait to go back again.
Colorado Springs is on our list and the major reason being the Garden of the Gods, we are very much intrigued by the red rock formations and want to see it in person. The National World War II Aviation Museum is something we would love to visit for the wonderful collection of WW II planes.
Garden of the Gods is beautiful — the red rock formations against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains is well-named. And — the Aviation Museum is a must-visit for anyone who loves warbirds. The fact that most of them are still flying is so special.
Definitely somewhere we’d love. We love natural landscapes like these already, plus the extra attraction of the WW2 aircraft museum, there’s an RAF one near where we live in London that is amazing, Would love to visit this one too.
Kavita, I’ve visited that museum near London — The Battle of Britain Imperial War Museum — and loved it. You’d love this one as well — I think one of the most special aspects is that most of their planes are still flying.
I love the WWII aircraft museum. I recently took an intro to air combat class from a former Top Gun instructor and learned all about how modern fighters engage one another. The technology was super cool but it all focused on missile launch regions. Watching WWII footage of planes maneuvering to get guns locked is like a graceful dance. It’s like the avionic equivalent of watching a swordfight.
I love WWII planes SO much! Your air combat class sounds amazing — would love to know where you took it. And — I love your metaphor comparing the warbirds maneuvering to watching a swordfight.
Yes! I should think about Colorado Springs! I’ve been to Denver twice and loved it, but only explored Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. We have a budget airline out of CVG to Denver and I keep meaning to take advantage of that. Now I can start making actual plans. Thanks, Ann!
Colorado Springs really does have a wealth of things to offer. While it’s an cheap flight from Houston, I typically drive up — spend one night on the way which makes it a really pleasant road trip.
This looks and sounds amazing! I just met with CS at IPW and hoping to get a road trip on the books one of these days.
I’ll be looking forward to seeing your videos when you do!