We have a family gathering planned during mid July. Looking for activites that are fun but also some people wont have a ton to spend money wise

I think we have a potential rafting trip and Garden of the Gods are a day or two

What places to eat and things to go that are budget friendly and then a couple that could be a bit higher in price as well

You can visit the Airforce Academy

Walk around Manitou

Take the train up to Pikes Peak

Hike around North Cheyenne Canon

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Do a tour of Glen Eyre castle

Visit Red Leg Brewery

40min drive up to cripple creek to see Rita the giant

PRCA hall of fame

Olympic training facility tour. Cheyenne mountain tour?

If you're going to cripple creek the mine tour is pretty cool as long as you're not claustrophobic for the ride down into the mine. Depending on when in July you're here pikes peak or bust is a good time. Paradox up in divide has pretty solid beer with great views. If you're coming from a place with out good BBQ there's a relatively new/ under the radar BBQ spot called chuckwagon 719 that's really solid. It's a family from Cypress who moved up and opened about a year ago. Just north of Peterson SFB.

If you want really affordable stuff, the hiking that's easily accessible is perfect.

You mentioned Garden of the Gods. In July, get there real early (like 7 am) and explore while its nice and cool. You'll see Mule deer walking around. If you've got people with limited hiking ability (kids or seniors), this is a great place with lots of flat hiking.

Go past Manitou around Pikes Peak and there's a ton of easy/accessible hiking trails that you can fill a day with and many hikes that end or are around a lake.

Skip the Manitou cliffs. Its just a replica of a cliff dwelling for Native Americans.

Visit the Broadmoor. It's a beautiful place to walk around and not pay for a room or to eat. If you want a little splurge, you can spend a bit and do the morning breakfast at the Broadmoor, or splurge for the weekend buffet.

Pizzeria Rustica on Colorado Avenue in Old Colorado City has a casual patio and good pizzas. Plus its a good area to wander around and there's an ice cream place nearby for a treat.

If you've got kids, check at Bear Creek Regional Park. There's a good playground, plus a restroom, and lots of picnic space to take a lunch and relax. We have hit this up pretty regularly and its a beautiful place to spend some time, especially if you're looking for budget friendly.

Another suggestion on garden of the gods on getting there early: it gets crowded, fast and parking spots get filled quickly.

Colorado Springs is awesome and has so much to do that's free/cheap.

We were in Denver last weekend for a graduation and made a day trip down. Had a lot of family that had never been to Colorado so we did the following, as an example of what you could do for one of your days:

Early start at Garden of the Gods.

Drive up Cheyenne Canyon Road/around Cheyenne Mountain and pick a hike. Tons of variability for ability level and awesome waterfalls.

Atomic Cowboy has Denver Biscuit Company for breakfast and really good (massive) pizza for lunch and dinner.

View Haus for drinks on a really fun deck with great views (duh).

Really can't go wrong on any of the nature stuff, and there's so much more to fill your 5 days!

Paint Mine interpretive park is about 50 minutes from Colorado Springs, and is worth the drive.

Wicked Good Ag said:

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We have a family gathering planned during mid July. Looking for activites that are fun but also some people wont have a ton to spend money wise

I think we have a potential rafting trip and Garden of the Gods are a day or two

What places to eat and things to go that are budget friendly and then a couple that could be a bit higher in price as well

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Few ideas from our time living there...

To Do:
-Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is worth the hype; highly recommend. July it can be HOT, so plan accordingly.
- Mueller State Park is a nice area to spend a day about an hour away (stop through Woodland Park at the Donut Mill and maybe dinner in Manitou)
- Garden of the Gods is great and worth doing, however if you do find yourself in a bind and hit it during a busy time, Red Rocks Canyon Open Space is right nearby and has some similar rock features (just much smaller).
- Palmer Park is in the heart of COS and you can drive to the top and do a few short trails (perhaps something to get the family acclimated to elevation). Has great spots for pictures with Pikes Peak in the background. Bring a picnic lunch.


Eating:
- Depot Square is a neat diner type place near downtown (right next to a rail yard with trains passing by)
- Ivy Wild is a cool place with a food court type of vibe. Lots of options for everyone and it is all in an old renovated school. Some places for drinks as well. Convenient location to pair with the Zoo.
- Located in Ivy Wild is Bristol Brewing and Axe and Oak Distillery
- Skirted Heifer for burgers downtown
- Atomic Cowboy - has a Denver Biscuit Company (recommend brunch on a patio)
- Atomic Cowboy - also has Fat Sully's NY Pizza
- Rabbit Hole downtown is a little more upscale

Enjoy!

Thank you for all the replies so far. Adding these to everything else we have discussed

Open air arcade in Manitou was surprisingly affordable with a lot of nostalgia (vintage machines).

Royal Gorge Train
We enjoyed Cripple Creek as much for the drive as anything else. Beautiful scenery

Red Gravy downtown for Italian food and cocktails

If interested in the zoo or incline highly recommend booking tickets asap especially if planning on visiting on a weekend. Early time slots sell out quickly. Incline is still free but you have to book a timed entry now.

If you make it up to Divide (on the way to Mueller and Cripple Creek), go to Paradox Brewery as someone mentioned - but hit Russ's for food. It's sort of a "locals" dive bar/restaurant, but their burgers are elite even by Texas standards.

Closer to Manitou, Crystal Park Cantina and Wines of Colorado are both solid.

I have lived here a while, and here are the things I recommend... A lot depends on the age of the people doing it though.

Restaurants

Denver Biscuit - fantastic breakfast
Fat Sullys - big pizza but it is horrible, almost always burnt
Slice 420 delicious pizza
Rabbit Hole - great food, a little pricey, used to be the county morgue
Colorado Mountain Brewery - good food and beer - little bit generic
There are a million burger joints here, Springs is a burger town, Skirted Heifer is decent, Green Line is f'ing incredible. Border Burger Bar in Manitou is pretty dang good
Bon Ton Cafe - great breakfast - It is in OCC
Mother Muffs is cool and decent food
Thunder and Buttons is cool
The game store in OCC has a door in the back that goes to a kinda secret food and beer room. You can play games while eating and drinking
If you walk around the Broadmoor make sure to go to the dessert place
Marigold Cafe is really good food for mostly decent prices. The desserts are incredible


Things to do

Red Rocks open space is great hiking
The Canyon is better - Mt Muscuco, 7 bridges, Bruin, Sweetwater. There is a lot up there
Garden of the Gods - Its great. No one is ever disappointed with GOTG
Palmer Park - Kinda nasty
Ute Valley - kinda small
Mt Hermann area in Monument - fantastic
Painted Rocks - pretty cool area
The train up Pikes Peak is decent, better than the royal gorge train
The incline is cool - medium hard
the arcade in Manitou is great for kids
The royal gorge used to be great but half the stuff burned down
Shame and Regret is an incredible bar
I think the Academy is extremely boring.

I guess it depends on what you want to se at the Academy, to find it boring.

It's in a pretty setting, the dorms are really ugly 1950s "modern" I believe the Chapel is still being renovated and not open for visitors It is pretty spectacular and worth a visit when it reopens.

There's a small visitor center / gift shop / theater with some info on the Academy. You can also go into the Field House where the gym and ice rink are. You can't go into dorms, classrooms, or cafeteria. There are two overlooks, one on base, on off I-25 where you can watch aircraft, parachute, and glider ops

Several airplanes on sticks. F-16, A-10, B-52 all can get pretty close. Few more on the Quad (Terrazzo) that you can't get close to. F-4, can't remember what else.

Class of 2028 (!) will be about four weeks into training, you might be able to look aver the Chapel wall and see them marching on the Terrazzo

No weapons, even in your car.

CanyonAg77 said:

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I guess it depends on what you want to se at the Academy, to find it boring.

It's in a pretty setting, the dorms are really ugly 1950s "modern" I believe the Chapel is still being renovated and not open for visitors It is pretty spectacular and worth a visit when it reopens.

There's a small visitor center / gift shop / theater with some info on the Academy. You can also go into the Field House where the gym and ice rink are. You can't go into dorms, classrooms, or cafeteria. There are two overlooks, one on base, on off I-25 where you can watch aircraft, parachute, and glider ops

Several airplanes on sticks. F-16, A-10, B-52 all can get pretty close. Few more on the Quad (Terrazzo) that you can't get close to. F-4, can't remember what else.

Class of 2028 (!) will be about four weeks into training, you might be able to look aver the Chapel wall and see them marching on the Terrazzo

No weapons, even in your car.

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Maybe I just expect more from visiting something, or maybe I just don't understand why someone would go visit a gym, ice rink, and planes on sticks when there is so much more to see in this town.

I can see a gym, ice rink, and people marching poorly at high schools in Texas. Why would someone travel to see that?

Plus the tanks you can see at Carson are better than the stick planes at AFA. It is a beautiful base, but everything is beautiful west of 25 on the front range


Best thing at AFA is the Stanley trail. But even with it being a great trail, there are 30 better trails in the area.

Eisenhower Golf Course is a nice place to visit. If you can get access as a military retiree or similar.

oldag941 said:

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Eisenhower Golf Course is a nice place to visit. If you can get access as a military retiree or similar.

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The blue course is a Robert Trent Jones course iirc and one of the top DoD courses I've played. Haven't played since moving back last summer but a buddy of mine told me it's become more of a pain in the ass to try and get a tee time unless you're a member.

The chapel is still in a box and last I heard wasn't supposed to be done til 2027 now. I guess the asbestos abatement is taking a long ass time.

I think the falcon trail is a pretty decent mountain biking trail. I'm no pro so might not be as technical as a more avid rider but it works for me and my rockhopper.

Bumping this as we leave tomorrow...

as for food any vegan options as one of the group is Vegan based

Also besides Garden of the Gods is there a really good 30 minute hike for those who want to go for a shorter hike and maybe that trail expands to longer for the others that is in the area