Colorado Springs

Our kids were 10, 8 & 3 when we took our trip to Colorado Springs in July 2022.

The North Pole-Santa’s Workshop Amusement Park

I was pleasantly surprised by this amusement park. The rides were aimed mostly at kids and were all Christmas themed. All of our kids had a blast & there were quite a few rides we could go on as well. They had a glass blower & I got a beautiful columbine made from blown glass that I love. There were rides like a carousel, a small roller coaster, a sky ride, a train and tons of rides for little kids. Looking back I wouldn’t take a 3 year old on the sky ride again. I was pretty nervous during that. Overall we had a great time and spent an entire afternoon there. They had a great website with all of the rides listed, a photo of it and height requirements for each one.

Manitou Springs-Spring Water

We found a map online of the mineral springs fountains in Manitou Springs and we tried to find them all to drink from them. We made it to six of the eight (that were easy to walk to). Five of them were running. So we got to try Shoshone, Cheyenne, Wheeler, Stratton & Twin Springs. They ranged from weird to gross! Some tasted like tonic water, but most were just gross. It was a fun thing to do though. This trip was a few years back from when I’m writing, but I’m pretty sure we stopped and got our own plastic cups to use. But when I Googled it, it looks like now they may sell souvenir cups. 

Cave of the Winds

We did the discovery tour. It was a cool cave. It also had quite a bit to do above ground. Including a seated zipline kind of thing that was scary and amazing at the same time that we did with our older two kids. Our older kids also got to spend some time climbing around the up high ‘ropes’ course they had. 

Penny Arcade

Meh. If you like arcade games then you may like this. There were little rides like you’d see at a mall too (like a little digger to ride for a very small child) It was actually in many small buildings, not just one. Our younger two liked it; our oldest did not. She saved her money for candy machines and was pretty bored. 

Pike’s Peak Cog Railroad

It took about 1 hour and 10 minutes to take the pretty ride to the top of the mountain. The mountains there felt more desert-like than the mountains we’re used to up by Rocky Mountain National Park & Indian Peaks. We were all glad we took our jackets. It was chilly at the top. The top had pretty views, but we only got 40 minutes at the top and most of that was spent in the bathroom and gift shop. It would have been nice to have a bit more time.

Manitou Cliff Dwellings

My husband and I have been to Mesa Verde in Colorado to the cliff dwellings. That being said, these were definitely set up in an easier-to-see way, but they were a very quick stop. We all found it interesting and it was nice to be able to go inside of them and the kids were allowed to touch things. The kids did zoom through it very quickly though. 

Royal Gorge (Cañon City, CO)

It was amazing. The gondola was closed due to wind while we were there; but we did get to walk across the bridge that spanned 1,270 feet across the gorge. It was almost 1,000 feet above the Arkansas River. It wasn’t the Grand Canyon, but it was a similar feeling of awe at how deep and wide it was. There was lightning shortly after we came back across the bridge and they had everyone head indoors. So I wouldn’t recommend this in iffy weather.