2 Day Colorado Springs Itinerary

Colorado Springs is everything I picture when someone talks about Colorado. Wide open spaces with a Rocky Mountain backdrop, gorgeous routes for hiking, and a little bit of the Wild West thrown in as well. Colorado Springs is also a perfect place to see how the state got its name, from the red colored rocks dotting the landscape.

The most difficult part about planning an itinerary is that so many things that you might want to do are outdoors. Since parks may close at dusk for the most part, depending on what time of year you go there may be limited time to see everything there is to see. Most museums are also not open particularly late, meaning these days are designed to maximize daylight by grabbing an early breakfast and heading out to see the sights.

Day 1: Garden of the Gods, Red Rock Open Space and Phantom Canyon Brewing

Garden of the Gods

It’s impossible to talk about Colorado Springs without mentioning its star attraction, The Garden of the Gods. Visiting Garden of the Gods is a must for your Colorado bucket list for its breathtaking red rock formations, awesome hiking, and the best part is it’s completely free! This was the first place we stopped when we arrived in Colorado Springs. Just make sure you get there early for parking and to enjoy some nature before the crowds. I recommend the Palmer Trail for a short hike to see some of the park’s best formations. Expect to spend at least an hour, up to half a day here enjoying the red rocks as they overlook Pikes Peak.

Red Rock Open Space

A bit farther away from the towering and busy Garden of the Gods, you’ll find the Red Rock Open Space, which features many of the same red rock formations, although not quite as magnificent as it’s nearby neighbors. The Colorado Open Space Alliance is a non-profit that preserves these natural areas. There are several relatively flat trails here that are great for exploring. The trails are open a bit later here per their homepage hours, but with essentially no light I can’t imagine it would be a great idea to visit after dusk as it’s a bit outside of the main part of Colorado Springs.

Phantom Canyon Brewing

Since we got up early, had breakfast at the hotel, and spent most of our day hiking, we were quite hungry and ready for some food and beers, along with a place to watch some football. We ended up making our way to Phantom Canyon Brewing Company in the evening to check out some of the local beers and food. I recommend the pork green chile, a Colorado specialty, and the “Livin on a Pear Tripel”.

Day 2: Pikes Peak, Cheyenne Cañon, Colorado Mountain Brewing, Ghost Town Museum

Pikes Peak

During our trip, we elected not to drive up “America’s Mountain”, Pikes Peak, even though it was on our list of things to do. Pikes Peak is said to be the inspiration for the song “America the Beautiful” so naturally you can imagine the views are stunning. We certainly would have taken some time if we had visited in the summer, but looking at the temperatures the morning we intended to go, the peak had a negative wind chill and was obviously snow covered. It didn’t seem like the best idea to take our rental car up the mountain with the risk of snow and ice, not to mention it may be too foggy and windy to really see anything from the top. We learned the previous day that the weather can change rapidly there and it seemed like too much time and risk for an unsure reward.

If you do make it on a sunny day, you can actually see four states from the top, although I doubt you’d really be able to tell if you were seeing far enough to know that. If you do choose to go, plan for at least a few hours between driving and stopping at the top for a famous donut at the Pikes Peak Summit House.

Cheyenne Cañon

Besides Garden of the Gods, one of my favorite parts of Colorado Springs was our visit to Cheyenne Cañon. With the recently fallen snow (it was November when we visited), everything was sparkling and beautiful, although cold. Unfortunately this also meant we couldn’t hike quite as much as we intended because the trails were so icy. We elected to do the short Helen Hunt Falls Trail

Colorado Mountain Brewery

I’ll start with saying that Colorado Mountain Brewery had some of the best and most interesting bar food I’ve ever had. We had an order of bison poppers, sort of like jalapeño poppers but with buffalo meat, and the San Luis Peak burger, complete with green chile cream cheese and fried poblano peppers. I’d never had anything like either of them, but they were absolutely delicious. We also of course managed to snag a flight of beers which were equally good.

Ghost Town Museum

Colorado Springs’ Ghost Town Museum was a pleasant surprise. The small, unassuming building across the parking lot from Colorado Mountain Brewing’s Roundhouse location wasn’t something we initially planned for our trip, but we figured we’d check it out to give us sometime to digest before driving back to the hotel.

Walking inside was like stepping back in time (or maybe like stepping something like an episode of Westworld), with original relics from the early formation of Old Colorado City. We learned that where we were had actually been the train station, and we had just been eating in the roundhouse where they stored all of the locomotives when not in use.

The thing that made the Ghost Town Museum a bit different than many typical museums was its interactive qualities. It had a shooting gallery where you could use electronic rifles to shoot at targets, could put quarters in machines that played music or had picture shows, and even a functional saloon. The saloon wasn’t in operation during our trip, but the venue does offer parties in the space, which can use the saloon as a working bar.

From May to September, the kiddos can also pan for gold at no extra cost. Typically going to a place like Colorado means you’ll be spending a lot of time outdoors, but if you’re looking for a cheap place to check out and are interested in history, this makes for a great stop quick stop.

Other Itinerary Options

Catch a tour at the Olympic Training Center - Make sure to go early since the center typically closes before 5pm

Visit Nearby Manitou Springs Cliff Dwellings - We elected not to do this because we weren’t sure it was worth the cost, but it’s worth mentioning since it is so close to everything!

Colorado Springs is a beautiful and fun place to visit. Have you been to Colorado? If so, what was your favorite part?

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