Our second week in Colorado Springs turned out to be a wonderful mix of history, mountain scenery, nostalgia, and time spent with family.
We began the week with a drive to Cripple Creek, once one of Colorado’s richest gold mining towns. Today the town has reinvented itself as a casino destination, but the town has surprisingly few of the shops and restaurants (outside of the casinos) that you might expect in a historic mining community. Gold is still being mined in the area, although now by large open-pit operations rather than the underground mines that made the town famous.
One of the highlights was the excellent Cripple Creek Visitor Center, perched on a hill just before entering town. Admission is free, but it is obvious that considerable care—and gambling revenue—has gone into creating and maintaining the facility. It does an outstanding job telling the story of the region’s mining history. We also visited the Lawmen and Outlaws Jail Museum. It was interesting enough, although probably not a place I would return to.
Later in the week we made another stop at the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade. Even after our first visit, we couldn’t resist going back for another hour of old-fashioned fun. The arcade was packed with families enjoying antique games, pinball machines, kiddie rides, and vintage amusements. It was noisy, hot, and crowded—the building still has no air conditioning—but everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time.
One of the week’s biggest adventures was riding the Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway to the summit of Pikes Peak. It is certainly an expensive excursion, but I felt it was worth every penny. The entire railway system was rebuilt between 2017 and 2021, with new Swiss-built train cars, reconstructed track, modern stations, and an impressive visitor center at the summit. Everything felt comfortable and beautifully organized.
The ride itself was spectacular. If I were doing it again, I would choose seats on the left side of the train, since the cars do not turn around at the summit and you see essentially the same side of the mountain on both the ascent and descent. Above the tree line we spotted several yellow-bellied marmots among the rocks. At the top we sampled the famous Pikes Peak donuts. They were fun to try, although I have to admit I’ve had better! Visitors have only about 45 minutes at the summit before boarding for the return trip, so the time passes quickly. One practical note: both the railway and summit facilities are cashless, and parking requires a reservation, but the entire process was remarkably efficient.
Another enjoyable stop was the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. Although the dwellings were reconstructed using stones relocated from Colorado’s Four Corners region rather than being in their original location, they offer a very different experience from visiting protected archaeological sites such as Mesa Verde or Bandelier. Here you are encouraged to climb, crawl, and explore the rooms and passageways at your own pace, giving visitors—especially children—a better sense of what life in these communities may have been like. The museum is excellent, with thoughtful exhibits on Ancestral Pueblo history, culture, and pottery, and the entire attraction is dog friendly, allowing Nala to enjoy the visit with us.
The week ended with a special family reunion in Denver. We met my brother, Ardy, and my nephews, Adam and Andrew, who had flown in from Minnesota, and together we attended a Colorado Rockies game at Coors Field. Before the game we spent some time exploring the beautifully restored Union Station and walking through a bit of downtown Denver.
Rather than driving into the city, we rode Denver’s light rail from a park-and-ride south of town. The one-hour ride was comfortable, clean, and felt very safe, and a day pass cost only $5.50—a bargain compared with downtown parking.
Our seats at Coors Field were in the club level, which turned out to be an excellent choice. They were shaded from the afternoon sun and connected to an air-conditioned concourse with plenty of food options, making it easy to escape the summer heat between innings. It was a wonderful afternoon of baseball and an even better opportunity to spend time with family.
As our stay in Colorado Springs draws to a close, I’m struck by how much variety the region offers. Within a single week we explored ancient Pueblo history, rode a historic mountain railway to the summit of a fourteener, revisited a classic penny arcade, wandered through an old gold-mining town, and finished with a major league baseball game in downtown Denver. It has been an enjoyable—and surprisingly diverse—chapter of our summer travels.