Jock 07 said:

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HollywoodBQ said:

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I Pike's Peak from the east and in the right light conditions, you can see the "Purple Mountains Majesty above the fruited plain"

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First thing in the morning as the sun is rising is the best chance to see it. This from this morning.

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If your picture scrolled more to the left you would be looking at my house. You would need a powerful lens, but I am in there somewhere on Cheyenne

I've finally locked this trip in.

I culled several days from this trip due to the amount of time we would simply be on the road, which I was starting to think would limit us just sitting back and enjoying the scenery. I've axed all of the western portions of the state to where we will simply do south to north on the eastern side of the state, all in the course of 7 days after 2 days to get there. Spend 3 days in Colorado Springs, the next 4 days in Estes Park. 2 days return trip.

Almost did get plane tickets last week when I found a decent sale from Southwest, but any savings gets eaten up with the rental car. The route we're taking will be from Katy to Amarillo day 1, arrive in Colorado Springs day 2, leave CS day 5 for Estes Park. We'll be taking I-70 east out of Denver to Salina, KS, then turning south to get to Oklahoma City, stay there for the night then back home several hours later.

I secured an Airbnb in Manitou Springs for our Colorado Springs stay. Found a small cabin to stay in while in Estes Park. In Colorado Springs, we'll be taking the Cog railway to the top of Pikes Peak and going to Garden of the Gods. There is a WWII aviation museum that we might get to. If the Air Force Academy is open for tours, might do that. In Estes Park, I had considered getting one night in the Stanley Hotel but the idea of spending as much for one night as I did for 3 nights in the cabin was not one I could take. But will go on their ghost tour as our daughter is really interested in that. Rocky Mountain National Park will be an entire day. My wife mentioned the Park Theater, apparently the oldest movie theater in the nation; not sure I want to see a movie when I can do that any day here without trekking across the country.

I've had some suggest getting into a tour group for side excursions. Not sure that we'll really have time for that kind of thing, but am open to suggestions.

Make sure you get your entrance reservations ASAP for RMNP....these are separate from the actual park admissions

AgRyan04 said:

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Make sure you get your entrance reservations ASAP for RMNP....these are separate from the actual park admissions

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I went to do that this morning, but all of both May and June are listed as unavailable. Do they release these reservations or am I too late to even get one?

edit - looks like I can get an annual pass

You were too late.

For this summer in Colorado if you want a campsite or reservation you have to log on exactly 6 months before you want in

knoxtom said:

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You were too late.

For this summer in Colorado if you want a campsite or reservation you have to log on exactly 6 months before you want in

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Not doing a campsite. Is reservation = entry pass (the terminology used on the RMNP web site)?

Yup

Talked to someone in the Information center just now.

They are using a timed entry system for my travel dates, so none of those reservations have been released for sale as yet. They will be made available May 1 at 8 am MT. And he had a nice idea for me to consider - I can avoid all the timed entry stuff by getting a reservation on a tour bus that operates from Estes Park. Will still need to park entry, but this will free me up from having to do the driving and looking for what he says is limited parking (when there will be big crowds more than likely). Sounds like a win for me. Plus, that also frees me up to be able to take in the sights and operate my camera (which neither my wife nor my daughter have ever expressed any interest in using).

JustPanda said:

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Ridgway isn't a hidden gem anymore. Property values have risen about 400% over the last 5 years and the town has exploded. We just sold our old place there.

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Tent-camped 12 years ago at the state park for a week.

Small tip on the cog, book the left side of the train, better views up and down. Also typically best to book the first or second train. Tends to cloud up and storms roll off the mountains pretty much every afternoon in the spring.

Also, FYSA, the USAFA chapel is still in its enclosure during the renovations that aren't supposed to be done til 2027 now iirc

Jock 07 said:

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Small tip on the cog, book the left side of the train, better views up and down. Also typically best to book the first or second train. Tends to cloud up and storms roll off the mountains pretty much every afternoon in the spring.

Also, FYSA, the USAFA chapel is still in its enclosure during the renovations that aren't supposed to be done til 2027 now iirc

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Thanks. I literally booked the cog railway an hour ago. Got row 2 on the left side, second trip up per the schedule.

Bummer about the chapel, was hoping it would be open.

Good deal, still cool trails and things around the academy grounds to check out. Falcon loop is great for biking, although not sure if the fire a few weeks ago affected that or not. The blue course on USAFA is nice if you're a golfer and have access to it.

Zoo, while not huge is a great option as well. Can't beat the views from the side of the mountain either.

That zoo is fun and a great hike.

It's over a decade since our kid was a Zoomie, but I expect it's much the same.

No firearms on USAFA property, make sure you have insurance card, don't be surprised if you get a random search.

The actual classrooms and dorms are off limits behind a fence. Most cadets will be gone, but about a third should still be doing summer stuff, such as flight instruction. The class of 2028 arrives June 26, so I'd avoid that day.

But you can auto tour huge parts of the grounds. Lots of airplanes-on-sticks, including B-52, A-10, F-16. There's a spot with several planes, where you can watch glider and parachute ops on the air field. You can drive around the athletic fields and self-tour the field house (gym, hockey rink, etc.) You can also go into the student center, and the Quad (Terrazzo) overlooks near it. Normally, you can use the overlook around the Chapel, but I suspect it might be closed.

The visitor's center has a few exhibits, and a gift shop, and you can hike a short trail from there to the Chapel area.

In Amarillo, I'd suggest not staying on the east side, most everywhere else is okay. Further west, usually the better. PD Canyon and the Museum here are always great, but I assume you won't have the time. Same goes for the Charles Goodnight home at Goodnight,

If you go through Channing, the XIT business office is there, if you want to look in the windows,

From Clayton (speed trap, obey the limits no matter how far from town) the Eklund Hotel is cool, there is a great dinosaur trackway at the lake, about 100 yard hike.

Capulin is a must see, for those who have the time.

You can always stay on 87 from Clayton to Raton. But for those with time, I say get off at Des Moines, take 325 to Folsom, then 72 over the top of Johnson Mesa. Also spectacular is 456 and 551 through the Dry Cimarron to Branson, Co.. But it's a desolate drive from there to Trinidad

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Driving non-stop sounds like a lot, but then I remember driving non-stop from Katy to Orlando with our youngest still in pre-school and her slightly older cousin, so should be able to do a similar drive with our daughter easily able to self-entertain.

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I divide the pain factor of the drive into two camps. Assuming you are going to drive up through Raton Pass, the run to the New Mexico border is the hard stretch as all you get is the ass-end of Northwest Texas (I can say that hailing from that part) and the Big Texas steak house.

Once you get past Raton, the drive is part of the fun to me especially if you are cutting over to Royal Gorge from the interstate.

You could make the 12 hour run from Katy one day and then slow walk it after that. I would be curious what route you plan to hit all that. Seems get off 25 for the Gorge and and then work your way back to Pike's Peak and Colorado Springs. You could then go up to Estes and use the fast roads to go over to the western part of the state.

Yikes, just saw that you had put together the plan.

Pro-tip, don't sit with your father-in-law at the Colorado Springs Embassy Suites happy hour and get good and lubed, fail to hydrate, and then take the Cog Rail up the next morning. Altitude sickness hit me good and hard up on the peak.

If you are scratching for things to do in C.S., I was pleasantly surprised by the Glen Eyrie mansion.

Get to Garden of the Gods early. There's no cost of admission but the parking lots do fill up. We got there around the time the visitor center opened (9AM) and asked the best lot to park in, and by the time we parked we were one of the last cars to get a spot. This was the first weekend in March, so I'd imagine it will fill up even faster in the summer. I'd hike first and do the visitors center after.

This is the lot we parked in - https://maps.app.goo.gl/TxAtEh8Lp9vqQd4E7

It was great for doing the paved loop trail, and we decided to add on some of the outer loop trails to go down to the Siamese Twins rocks since the paved loop was pretty short and easy. Not a hard hike but the altitude did start getting to me after a while. The other parking lots we hiked by weren't bad but I'm glad we were in this one because it was at one end of the park. By the time we headed back towards the car around 11:30, the place was a zoo. Lots of people only do the paved trails, so the outer ones were a lot less busy.
The visitor's center was cool but not very helpful - they don't give out paper maps anymore so you'll have to download one and print it before you get there. They do have a cool 3D model of the park.

We saw everything we wanted to by noon and headed to Manitou Springs. The Manitou Cliff Dwellings museum is really cool and only takes about an hour to see everything. You can even walk through the old dwellings to see what the insides were like.
Our favorite little shop in Manitou was 'Colorado Art of Facts'. The rest of the shops are pretty generic gift shops, but this one had genuinely cool memorabilia like old original post cards from the early 1900s, etc.

If you want a great breakfast, 'The Pantry' in Green Mountain Falls is about 15 minutes from Manitou Springs up into the mountains near the Pikes Peak turnoff and was so good we went back for breakfast a second day in a row. Get the Cinnamon Roll French Toast and thank me later.

I thought I would give a little hiking advice since everything you talk about doesn't involve the outdoors and Colorado Springs is all about the outdoors. I can't remember if you have kids along which makes recommendations tough.


7 bridges trail. - It is fine but overrated. So many people hike it. First mile is gravel road, next 3-4 go up a canyon. You can link to a million other trails from this one. Kineo Mtn, St Marys, Pipeline, Jacks, 667, etc. Most people go out and back. Very kid friendly unless they are very young.

Mt. Muscuco - Not a long trail but a whole lot of bang for the buck. There is some exposure (seen people get really scared) but also some incredible views. I wouldn't bring really little kids. You can add the mountain next to it (Cutler) to add a couple miles and bag two low altitude peaks in one shot. It is cool to see the zip lines and 7 falls from above. This is where I take visitors. Lots of wild berries on the trail also. Yummy.

Red Rocks Open Space - This is an abandoned quarry and also sports the same rocks that make up garden of the gods. It is a GREAT park for kids. Lots of rock climbers, scrambling on rocks, etc. If you go on the east side of the park you will see a white wall (dike). Look at is closely and you will see seashells imbedded in the dike. This is because that dike is older than the Rockies and used to be in the great inland sea. Cool fossils. The west side has the contemplative trail which is super cool.

Mt Rosa Climb - great trail to the top of a mountain. Only negative is that the drive is a long way out a washboarded road. Few miles up and a few down. It is cool that you can point at the mountain from anywhere in Co Springs and say, "I just climbed that." Rosa is the 3rd highest on the Pikes Peak massif.

Bruin, Sweetwater, new Daniels Pass - these are new trails that come out to the south side of Cheyenne Canyon. They are very good but get a decent amount of bike traffic. Gotta be on your toes but worth it.

Strawberry fields - a set of trails next to the Broadmoor and 7 falls that are surprisingly good. They will eventually link to Fishers Canyon and all the way to the State Park. I wouldn't drive far for them.

Manitou Incline - it is kinda boring, you are just climbing a staircase, but you can say you did it.

Barr Trail - Good trail, maybe a great trail. Heavy usage and it is 13 miles up.

Intemanns - from Manitou to Red Rocks via Crystal Park. Great trail but hot.


Ute Valley Park - meh

Palmer Park - good park ruined by some sketchy people

Columbine trail - blows

Buckhorn to Captain Jacks - to many bikes for hikers to enjoy. Scary for kids. We ride that stuff fast.

USAFA Falcon trail - I think it sucks except at the very back of the academy there is a trail that climbs up to a lake. Can't remember the name but it is awesome

Mt Hermann - all of it is pretty good


Anyway hope that helps. Colorado springs is much more enjoyable if you do what makes it great, and that is to see the mountains up close.

HollywoodBQ said:

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Devil's Tower pairs well with Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, Sturgis, Wall Drug, Crazy Horse Memorial. That's 3-4 days right there.

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Then catch the Ags in Omaha. Hit up Branson and Table Rock. Then back on home.