Must do's in Colorado

[cody6766]

I also recommend that route. It's not all interstate, but the roads are pretty good and the scenery is MUCH better than going up through KS. My wife and I drove up that route and came home through KS and it took more or less the same time and KS is...just...just terrible to drive through.

 

[Biggsly]

Now that I have more then my phone and a little time.

Marilyn's Pizza is a cool little pizza joint in Manitou Springs. If you go to the back room you can sit and look over the water that runs behind the building. I eat there every time we go.
For Mexican. Go to The Loop.
Ancient Mariner is a good place for burgers, nachos, and things like that.
The great thing is that you can walk everywhere.
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is the name of the zoo. It is very cool and built up the side of the mountain.
I love going up there.

 

[BUDMAN-BILL]

What direction will you be taking to get there? That will help us suggest stops along the way. We generally take I-40 to Amarillo, Highway 87 north from Amarillo to Dumas and Dalhart in Texas and then Clayton and Raton in New Mexico. At Raton, we take I-25 north to Colorado Springs. If you take that route, between Clayton and Raton is the town of Capulin, and north of Capulin is Capulin Mountain which is an old Volcano that one can drive up onto. Believe me, it isn't very big as far as mountains go.

What are your interests in seeing?

Things to do in Colorado Springs

If you like scenery and getting off the beaten path, check out Phantom Canyon Road. It starts off of Highway 50 between Pueblo and Canon City and goes north and west up into some of the mining country. The turnoff is a few miles west of the Highway 50 and Highway 115 junction.

In Canon City, besides the Royal Gorge, one can check out the prison museum. It is on the west side of town back a bit and to the east of the prison there.

If you like petrified stuff, there is Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument up Highway 24 from Colorado Springs and south of the town of Florissant.

While its nothing like Mesa Verde, there is a site called Manitou Cliff Dwellings that is really more like a "manufactured" site, but still kind of interesting.

Your the third person that's told me the same route. Sounds like
A plan to me, thanks

 

[TerryMiller]

One other that I failed to mention. If you like artistic things, look for Michael Garman's Magic Town in Colorado Springs. He is a sculpture and has created a "town" inside of a studio that has been fully sculpted, right down to all the bricks in the buildings. You can be looking in between buildings or even in a window of a building and the light will change and you will see an entirely different scene through the same window. If you look in through the open doors of the movie theater, you can see a "movie screen" showing the very movie that is displayed on the marque.

A few pictures I took there are in a slideshow at the link below, but don't pay any attention to the lady in the window at the upper left:

Images of the Magic Town

 

[flatwins]

I've spent a lot of time in SW Colorado. If I get out there, Ouray always calls my name.

 

[Neanderthal]

Coors brewery in Golden Colorado..*burp*.

 

[Biggsly]

Your the third person that's told me the same route. Sounds like
A plan to me, thanks

I took this off of Capulin Mountain last year.

 

[Cinaet]

If it was me I'd celebrate the trip by smoking a dooby or eating an enhanced brownie.

 

[71buickfreak]

Spent my teen years in the springs. Ere are some faves-

Penny arcade in manitou
fargos pizza old school turn of the century place
Cave of the winds

in denver- casa bonitas

 

[UnSafe]

Bristol Brewery on South Tejon. Some of the best beer I've ever had. It's a working craft brewery with a little bar attached. Worth a stop.

Are you going to walk up Barr trail to Pike's, ride the cogwheel train or drive? The trail is beautiful but you have to leave early so you can get back down for dinner in Manitou. Parking at the trailhead sucks, easier to just park further down Ruxton and walk the additional distance. Don't forget snivel gear, food and water.

Don't know if Dragon Man's gunshop & range still exists out East on Hwy 24(?). He was a trip in the '90's. A bunch of Class III stuff and old Harley motors being rebuilt in the same shop.