Colorado Springs CO is a great area for anyone who loves to get outside and enjoy nature. The weather in the summer time is lovely. And, there are beautiful views everywhere you look.
There are three attractions we wanted to see during our time in the Colorado Springs area.
- Garden of the Gods
- Pikes Peak
- Royal Gorge Bridge & Park
Because of weather issues (in June!) we were only able to visit two of these attractions.
Garden Of The Gods
Garden of the Gods is a National Landmark of sandstone rock formations.
I highly recommend you stop at the visitor center before exploring Garden of the Gods. There’s a nice cafe with outside seating that overlooks Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak.
The volunteers in the visitor center will give you a map and give you helpful information about all the trails you can go on.
Since we travel with our three year old, Camille, the guide recommended we go on one of the short, easy trails with excellent views.
There are shuttle busses that will pick you up from the visitor center and drop you off at the beginning of the trails.
Pikes Peak
Oh, how I wish I had pictures from the top of Pikes Peak at over 14,000 feet to show you. But, I don’t. We tried to go to the top of Pikes Peak on June 15th and 16th. But, we couldn’t make it up there because of snow.
Apparently, that’s pretty common. On both days we could have driven up to mile 7 (out of 19). We decided to skip it since we couldn’t go all the way up.
If you go to Pikes Peak, call this number before you drive to the entrance – 719-385-7325. It gives current weather conditions on Pikes Peak and tells how far up the mountain the roads are open.
Royal Gorge Bridge & Park
The Royal Gorge Bridge is America’s highest suspension bridge. It’s 956 feet above the Arkansas river in Cañon City CO, which is about an hour from Colorado Springs. It’s definitely worth the drive.
We walked all the way across the bridge. The views are pretty spectacular.
Camille was a little nervous because she didn’t like that we could see down in between some of the boards as we were walking across. But, she got used to it and did great.
On the other side of the bridge is a children’s playground and merry-go-round.
Instead of walking back across the bridge, we took a gondola ride back to the entrance of the park.
If you plan on camping in Colorado Springs, check out our post about Mountaindale Campgrounds. Its location makes for an easy drive to the attractions in Colorado Springs and Cañon City.
Gerald Rahm
What a bummer that you weren’t able to experience Pikes Peak. But 2 out of 3 isn’t bad. You had nice photos of the Garden of the Gods and Royal Gorge. I remember our guide on Pikes Peak called the Royal Gorge the Royal GOUGE. He told us about Cripple Creek. Hope you had a change to go there. More gold was mined from Cripple Creek than the.entire state of California during the gold rush. If you missed it there’s always next time.
Looking forward hearing about more adventures.
Renea
Looks like a great place to visit!