CO Springs - What to do?

[bwalden123]

My wife and I are making our first trip ever west in late July (her first time ever west of the Mississippi river)

Any must do's/see/eat in the area?

We will be there for 7 days

If you have time for a road trip, driving 24 from the Springs to Buena Vista and then up to Independence Pass (on Highway 82), back to 24 to 70 to 25 and back to the Springs is a pretty drive. I've seen bighorn sheep in the section between Buena Vista and the turn off to Independence Pass (highway 82). Take pictures at Wilkerson Pass and Independence and the pull offs (except the one dropping into Buena Vista - Chaffee County wants money for that one :-( ) and make sure you hit the restrooms at Wilkerson Pass (may be closed due to COVID) and at the Twin Lakes picnic area (not many other opportunities till you get to I-70). Make sure you aren't anywhere near Denver during a rush hour. The Springs also has a Bass Pro Shop and there's a Cabela's South of Denver off of I25. Have fun!

 

[bwalden123]

If you have time for a road trip, driving 24 from the Springs to Buena Vista and then up to Independence Pass (on Highway 82), back to 24 to 70 to 25 and back to the Springs is a pretty drive. I've seen bighorn sheep in the section between Buena Vista and the turn off to Independence Pass (highway 82). Take pictures at Wilkerson Pass and Independence and the pull offs (except the one dropping into Buena Vista - Chaffee County wants money for that one :-( ) and make sure you hit the restrooms at Wilkerson Pass (may be closed due to COVID) and at the Twin Lakes picnic area (not many other opportunities till you get to I-70). Make sure you aren't anywhere near Denver during a rush hour. The Springs also has a Bass Pro Shop and there's a Cabela's South of Denver off of I25. Have fun!

There are a bajillion restaurants on Powers Road including a place called "HuHot" where it's all you can eat and you gather the ingredients that they then cook on a huge Mongolian grill. Lots of food and they have recipe suggestions on cards near the beginning of the line to put your food together. Several good Mexican resturants + Bird Dog BBQ can be found on Powers (which is a *really* busy road). Back in the day CB & Potts was in town but I see that the Wuhan flu put them out of business in the Springs. :-(

 

[Khunter]

curious on how you decided to visit colorado ssprings of all the amazing places Colo has to offer, Colo springs is way, way down the list.

 

[Big Slick]

Nevada Avenue is the wrong side of town, PSA!

 

[Otto Matic]

Not to be a debbbie downer but my wife and I went out west for the first time last year as well. We stayed in Denver a few days then Estes and then decided to drive down to Colorado Springs because we heard so much about it. We had less then a stellar experience there and drove right back to Estes. We had already gotten our fill of bums in Denver and after one intentionally jumped in front of our vehicle we turned around and left. Estes is very touristy but it seems they kept the bums out.

Was he clothed? ...in more than a backpack!

 

[WestKyHunt]

I've been here for 12 years now and live about 2 miles from Garden of the Gods. I also work at the new Scheels store. What are your main interests (and I can make recommendations based on that)? Here are a few I haven't seen yet. Helen Hunt Falls for a nice little hike, Ute Valley Park (my neighborhood) is a city park with nice trails, Pizzeria Rustica (close to Italian pizza- I was stationed in Italia for 4 years) and Jake and Telly's (Greek- lamb shank is great) in Old Colorado City, Fujiyama Sushi on Tejon (25% off rolls at lunch), The Ivywild (Bristol Brewing's tasting room and decent chow), et al......feel free to PM me and I will be in town that time frame if you need anything!!

Thanks for all the info!

I want to see as much landscape as possible, but my wife is not as active as I am (she's a author).

Already have Scheel's, REI and Sportsmans Warehouse on the list since we don't have any of those stores here.

The updated itinerary is as follows in no particular order:

Royal Gorge Railroad
Cheyenne Mtn Zoo
Sporting goods stores mentioned above
Pikes peak cog (maybe)
Mining & Industry Museum
Pioneer Museum
Garden of the Gods
Red Rock Canyon
Cave of the Winds

Going to look through this thread one more time later this month and add anything that seems interesting

 

[WestKyHunt]

curious on how you decided to visit colorado ssprings of all the amazing places Colo has to offer, Colo springs is way, way down the list.

Honestly I do not know much about CO
COS seemed like a better choice then Denver, where my wife wanted to go

 

[jlmatthew]

Sandys is one of my fav's. One of the last mom & pop, non-hipster places in the Springs, and the best burgers I believe, especially when you factor in the price. Good chicken fried steak too!

Sandy's Restaurant

Breakfast Restaurant in Colorado Springs

sandys-restaurant.business.site

Anybody else miss the Hungry Farmer on Garden of the Gods Rd where the Chick- Fil-A is? Now that was somewhere to recommend

 

[tread]

That’s a place I haven’t thought of in a long time. Might as well add Michelle’s and red top to that list. Another good local joint is Paninos.

 

[ZBB]

These sheep were on the south side of the royal gorge…right next to the playground. There’s a zip line that goes across too, if ya got the stones, which I do not.

 

[jlmatthew]

That’s a place I haven’t thought of in a long time. Might as well add Michelle’s and red top to that list. Another good local joint is Paninos.

I sure liked Michelle's. But now even if it was still open, I don't think I'd like going downtown now to get to it

 

[WestKyHunt]

Bumping this thread as we are closing in on our trip.

The wife is now wanting to go to pearl st in Denver and shop. Which I will gladly oblige, since she somehow puts up with my constant ramblings about hunting

 

[Rzrbk]

The Museum of Natural History in Denver is good.

 

[Dsnow9]

Bumping this thread as we are closing in on our trip.

The wife is now wanting to go to pearl st in Denver and shop. Which I will gladly oblige, since she somehow puts up with my constant ramblings about hunting

Pearl st in Boulder?
Much more enjoyable shopping experience. The shopping strip in Denver would be 16th st mall. Not as enjoyable.

 

[WestKyHunt]

Pearl st in Boulder?
Much more enjoyable shopping experience. The shopping strip in Denver would be 16th st mall. Not as enjoyable.

Yes, Boulder.
My bad haha

 

[Zach]

Yes, Boulder.
My bad haha

The CO natives will tell you to grab a pie at https://www.beaujos.com/
It's ok

 

[WestKyHunt]

Well we left at 3am this morning after getting home from work around 10pm. Almost halfway through Kansas now.
Ready for that hotel bed already

 

[Sawtooth]

Have a great time and safe travels. Looking forward to your final report.

 

[WestKyHunt]

Finally arrived around 8 last night. Longest drive I've done so far (14hr behind the wheel) and it drained me more than I would have thought.

No solid plans for today, which is always nice.
Meeting one of my wife's online friends for lunch and hopefully hitting up Scheel's, Sportsman's and REI.
If there are any other great sporting goods stores let me know!

 

[JohnCushman]

There's a Bass Pro Shop too off of Northgate Blvd