Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods

From the Great Sand Dunes we drove a couple hours to Colorado Springs, Colorado. There were so many things to see and do in Colorado Springs, but we only had time for Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, and Costco.

Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs is the 40th most populated city in the United States, but smaller than Denver. It’s a military town and home of the Air Force Academy and Cheyenne Mountain. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is deep inside Cheyenne Mountain. NORAD is reminiscent of “Dr. Strangelove” in that it was built during the threat of nuclear war in the 1950s. Since it is inside a mountain, there is a reduced concern of damage if bombed. There are eleven multiple story buildings on coil springs, that are encased in steel, surrounded by granite, and all of it behind massive blast doors. Inside, up to 800 people could survive fall-out from a nuclear bomb. It’s still used by Canadian and United States military to monitor air space for intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Garden of the Gods

It’s a public park, so free to visit and beautiful. There were numerous hiking trails and views of the rocks. The story about how Garden of the Gods got its name is: in 1859 two surveyors came upon a beautiful area of sandstone formations. One of them suggested that it would be a “capital place for a beer garden”. The other surveyor exclaimed, “Beer Garden! Why it is a fit place for the Gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods.” It has been so called ever since.

Reminded us of Utah. It was nice to see red, pink, and white sandstone formations again.

Cheyenne Mountain State Park

We had a scenic and private pad facing Cheyenne Mountain. There were numerous pet friendly hiking trails that Jake enjoyed daily.

We saw deer and prairie dogs. The site had 50 amp service, 60 psi water pressure, sewer, and no Wifi. Satellite reception was good.

Pikes Peak

It’s one of the few roads that will lead to the summit of a 14,000 foot mountain. The views were spectacular. There are 53 fourteeners in Colorado. Pikes Peak is named after the American explorer, Zebulon Pike. The toll road to the summit is 19 miles long and paved. There is a cog railroad to the summit. The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Pikes Peak Cycling Hill Climb, and Pikes Peak Marathon are annual events. It was a bit unnerving driving up the road without guardrails.

Along the way, we saw turkey, pika, and marmots. Jake wanted to jump out the car window to get this marmot.

At the summit there was a gift shop and restaurant. We bought 4 fudge covered donuts just to say we ate donuts that were made at 14,000 ft.  They weren’t very good.

Katharine Lee Bates, a teacher, poet, and songwriter visited the summit of Pikes Peak in 1893. She was so inspired by the views she wrote the song “America the Beautiful”.  We enjoyed being in the clouds. Watching them move so quickly was mesmerizing.  Better than a lava lamp.