Colorado Springs, CO

I had read many accolades of the campground at Cheyenne Mountain State Park in Colorado Springs so when trying to decide where to make reservations for a holiday weekend, we thought it’d be a great choice.

This is a relatively new state park, built above the city on the side of Cheyenne Mountain, the former headquarters of NORAD. It overlooks Fort Carson, so close that you can hear the bugle calls. The park is huge and feels like you are in the middle of nature, yet you are 5 minutes from anything and everything you would need in a city.

There are a ton of things to do in Colorado Springs. Two claims to fame are its most recognizable mountain, Pike’s Peak, and the Garden of the Gods.

The sandstone formations of the Garden of the Gods are remnants of the ancient ocean and sand dunes that were here before the modern Rockies were even formed.

There is a funny story about the naming of this city park. Two surveyors from Denver were exploring the area to build a new town. One remarked that this was a good place to build a beer garden to which the other replied that it looked like a place for gods to assemble, hence Garden of the Gods!

The land was originally owned by the person who built the railroad to Colorado Springs and later donated it to the city for everyone’s (free) enjoyment.

There is also an interesting story about Pike’s Peak nicknamed “America’s Mountain”. The English professor, Katherine Bates, visited Pike’s Peak and after seeing views of the plains to the east and the Rocky Mountains to the west, was inspired to write the poem that would later become the lyrics to America the Beautiful.

We stopped by Amy’s Donuts for reinforcement and drove to the 14,115ft summit to take in the views and play in the snow.

Nearby is Manitou Springs, a picture-perfect small mountain town.

Unlike Colorado Springs, there are springs all over Manitou Springs and you can do a walking/tasting tour of them.

For some reason, also right in town are 2,768 steps up the side of a mountain. Okay, the reason was to access some water tanks. But for some reason, the Manitou Incline is a very popular ‘hike’. And for some reason, Michael wanted to join in the fun.

Afterward, I made him get me a beer and burger at Manitou Brewing.

We had one more day the following weekend so we drove down to Canon City to see the Royal Gorge. This gorge was carved by the Arkansas River and has the highest suspension bridge (956 ft) in the US, built as a tourist attraction rather than a route across the gorge. We went to the overlook south of the bridge and then did a great hike north of the bridge in a private neighborhood. We saw blooming cactus and other desert plants and a really nice spot for lunch had it not been incredibly windy.

Next, we head back into the mountains for more boondocking.