Colorado Springs in 3 Days
Colorado Springs is perfect for the outdoor adventurer. This 3 day itinerary includes information on Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, and Mueller State Park. And of course no itinerary is complete without the best local places to eat!
3 day Colorado Springs itinerary
There are plenty of things to do in the Colorado Springs area. This itinerary is focused on outdoor activities.
Day 1: Garden of the Gods
I have very mixed feelings about this park. The red rock formations are absolutely stunning. It was really hard for me to enjoy them though because it was a zoo. I always prefer to enjoy nature with a bit more solitude, but it was especially stressful in the midst of a pandemic. Almost no one wore a mask.
There are many smaller parking lots near different hiking trails and rock formations. Unfortunately, none of them have RV parking. The only place we were able to park was the main parking lot by the Central Garden Trail. This short loop trail is paved and is the most popular one at the park. My advice: stop here very briefly and then get to the less crowded trails in the park.
Since we could only park in one place, we hopped over to the Palmer Trail. This trail doesn't really have any exciting views of rock formations, but there's also almost no one on it. We took it to the Siamese Twins rock formation.
The Siamese Twins part of our hike was my favorite part of the park. Not only is the rock formation stunning, it's not crowded at all and there are great views of the mountains behind it. Instead of taking the Palmer Trail there, it's also possible to park closer and take the 1 mile Siamese Twins trail.
Most of the hikes at this park are short and easy. It feels like a must see attraction in Colorado Springs. I would recommend getting here as soon as the sun rises to beat the crowds.
Day 2: Mueller State Park
This state park was a breath of fresh air after Garden of the Gods. We spent 4-5 hours hiking here and saw almost no one the entire time. By the time we left in the early afternoon, there were a few people, but it was such a stark contrast to the crowds we saw the day before.
There's a $9 per vehicle entrance fee to get in, which felt a little steep to me coming from a state that doesn't charge to get into state parks. It's definitely worth it though.
For our first hike here, we combined the Outlook Ridge, Raven Ridge Overlook, and Lost Pond trails into a big loop trail. I think it was a little over 3 miles total. The hike was moderate and there were fantastic views at Raven Ridge Overlook.
For our second hike, we planned to hike to Grouse Mountain Overlook and then take the Cheesman Ranch Trail until we got to Buffalo Rock. The Grouse Mountain Overlook alone would be a little less than a mile round trip and a moderate hike. It's definitely worth doing with great views at the top.
The Cheesman Ranch Trail ended up being a boring walk through the woods for the most part. We never found Buffalo Rock and ended up turning around. The whole trail is about 5.7 miles, but based on the portion we did, I think there are better hikes to do at the park.
Day 3: Pikes Peak
We debated on whether it was worth driving to the top of Pikes Peak or not and ultimately decided to do it. It was logistically complicated for us because our RV was too big to drive up. We rented a car for a day and used that to drive to the top.
First things first: it costs $50 per carload or $15 per adult. Because of this, there's a long line to get through at the bottom of the mountain. We couldn't pick up the rental car until 8 am, so we didn't get there until around 9 am and had to wait in traffic for 45 minutes. I recommend getting there as early as possible.
At 14,115 feet high, it might be the easiest 14er to summit. It's a 19 mile drive to the top. When we were there, they had mandatory shuttles leaving from mile markers 13 and 16 (because of construction at the summit), but somehow they let us drive the whole way to the top. As of the end of October, the shuttles have stopped and everyone can drive to the top again.
There are many overlooks to stop at on the way up or down the mountain. We chose to drive straight to the top and then stop at overlooks on the way down. I thought some of the overlooks had better views than the summit.
Because of the construction at the summit, our views were more limited than normal. It was also a very hazy day due to wildfire smoke. The views were still very pretty though.
In the end, I'm not sure it was worth all the hassle. In my opinion, we got better views while hiking in the Rocky Mountains with less crowds. If we hadn't had to rent a car and sit in traffic, it probably would have been more worthwhile to me.
Where to eat in Colorado Springs
Urban Egg
I am not usually a huge breakfast/brunch fan, but I loved this restaurant. Get the Southwest Benedict. It has an incredible green chile sauce and is served on a tamale. I also loved the cinnamon swirl pancake. There are multiple locations in the Colorado Springs/Denver area.
Skirted Heifer
This restaurant is known for their skirted burgers. The skirt is a huge, crispy cheese ring around the burger that is incredibly delicious. Our favorite burger was the Hangover Burger, but it's hard to go wrong with any burger as long as it's skirted.
Getting to and around Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is a very populated area, so I'm sure it would be possible to get around with just ride share programs. Having a car allows for a lot more flexibility. There is a small airport in Colorado Springs and it's also only about an hour away from Denver.
Where to stay around Colorado Springs
We stayed at the Rocky Top Campground which was about a 20 minutes outside of Colorado Springs. As I learned on this trip, RV parks aren't my favorite place to stay and this one wasn't my favorite. It was a big gravel lot with no trees or anything for privacy. We thought there might be views up in the mountains, but that wasn't the case either. It felt more crowded than other RV parks too.
I would have preferred to stay somewhere a little closer to Colorado Springs since we were frequently going into the city to eat at local restaurants. For those not camping, I'm sure there are plenty of great Airbnbs in Colorado Springs.
Best time to visit Colorado Springs
Like most of Colorado and the western US, Colorado Springs is hot and dry in the summer. The beginning of September was in the mid 80s. This felt really hot to be hiking in during the afternoon, so I'd recommend morning hikes if you go at this time. I'd recommend going in October or April for cooler temperatures and smaller crowds.