Things to do in Colorado Springs

Nature · West side, off 30th Street

A free city park of 300-foot red sandstone fins tipped on end by the same uplift that raised the Rockies, with Pikes Peak framed behind them.

Local tip: Free, always, and busy from 9am. Go at sunrise for the light on the Kissing Camels and an empty car park, or walk in from the Rock Ledge Ranch side to skip the visitor centre entirely.

Nature · Summit reached from Cascade or Manitou Springs

A 14,115-foot summit you can reach by cog railway, by toll highway or on foot up Barr Trail, with a summit house built for the altitude.

Local tip: Book the cog railway weeks ahead in summer — it sells out. If you drive, go down in low gear: rangers check brake temperature at the halfway point and will make you cool off.

Nature · Manitou Springs

About 2,700 railway ties climbing roughly 2,000 feet in under a mile, on the bed of a dismantled funicular.

Local tip: Free but reservation-controlled, and the trailhead parking is not — take the shuttle from Manitou. Do not attempt it in your first fortnight at altitude; people are carried off it every summer.

Neighborhood · West Colorado Avenue

The original 1859 territorial townsite, annexed in 1917, now a walkable strip of Victorian storefronts, bookshops and bars.

Local tip: This is where to go when downtown feels too corporate. Parking is free on the side streets, and the Wednesday farmers market in summer is the genuine local one rather than the tourist one.

Culture · Downtown, Southwest Downtown district

A Diller Scofidio + Renfro building whose galleries spiral downward, designed so the whole route is step-free — the most accessible museum of its kind anywhere.

Local tip: Time your visit with a training centre tour up the road; the museum sells combined access, and seeing athletes actually working is better than the exhibits.

Food · Ivywild, south of downtown

A 1916 elementary school converted into a brewery, bakery, bar and food hall, with the classrooms and gym left legible.

Local tip: Locals treat it as a neighbourhood living room rather than an attraction. The bar in the old principal's office is the good one, and the surrounding streets are the city's quiet sleeper for cheap character housing.