5 outdoor adventures in Colorado Springs
With plenty of travel bloggers making plans for the upcoming TBEX taking place in Keystone, Colorado (unfortunately, I won’t be attending–I’ll be celebrating my birthday in Croatia!), I’ve been reminiscing about my summer spent in Colorado Springs.
The summer after my junior year of university, I was awarded a scholarship and a paid internship as a sports copy editor at The Colorado Springs Gazette by the Association of Women in Sports Media. I was thrilled for the opportunity to explore a new part of the country and work at a newspaper, and I quickly I fell in love with the outdoor-centric lifestyle in Colorado: it was named the healthiest state in the USA in 2008, the year that I lived there. I spent my nights in the newsroom and my days exploring the incredible natural beauty that surrounded me: here are a few of my favorite fresh-air memories.
O beautiful for spacious skies: On the pinnacle of Pikes Peak in 1893, Katherine Lee Bates was so taken by the view of the sweeping Great Plains that she wrote “America the Beautiful” immediately upon her return to her hotel room. Surely, on ground level, the appearance must have changed greatly in the past century; however, looking down from the 14,000-foot peak, the Plains are as breathtaking as ever. Take the world’s highest cog railway to see it yourself–and don’t forget your jacket, there is snow year-round at the summit!
Hitting the links: One of the main reasons I was hired was to help cover the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor; so inspired was I by the sweeping green golf courses crowned by the majestic Rockies that I took up golf myself. Colorado Springs is a fantastic place to golf: The Broadmoor Resort has been a Five-Star award-winner for a record 52 consecutive years, but there are also numerous public golf courses with reasonable rates and remarkable views. My tip: go in the morning, before the afternoon thunderstorms roll in.
Tackling the Incline: Every Saturday morning, I laced up my running shoes, stuck in my headphones and raced up 2,000 feet in 3/4 of a mile. A favorite practice ground of United States Olympic athletes (the USOC flagship training center is located in Colorado Springs), military personnel and endurance runners, the Incline is a notoriously difficult run because of its sheer steepness and dramatic altitude change. If you make it to the top, you’ll be rewarded with a stunning view of Colorado Springs (the first picture in the post is from the summit) and a relatively easy run down Barr Trail. I always stopped at The Mate Factor in Manitou Springs for a post-run energy boost of fresh granola with blueberries and a mate!
Cooling off in the mountains: One of my favorite activities was finding new swimming holes and waterfalls. Nestled into the Rockies and the surrounding national parks, there are plenty of places to cool off on hot summer days.
Flying across the sky: I finally convinced one of my guy friends to check out Royal Gorge Park, featuring the world’s highest suspension bridges over one of the world’s most massive gorges–but he said he’d only come if we did the Royal Rush Skycoaster. Known as one of the world’s scariest skycoasters, it’s a “free-fall tower sweeping you 50 mph to hang momentarily over 1,200 feet above the Arkansas River.” The Skycoaster was absolutely terrifying, but the rest of the park was incredible: the Incline Railway travels at a steep 45-degree angle all the way down to the river and there are numerous vista points with majestic views of the gorge.
Note: the Garden of the Gods is a gorgeous place to explore–and a must-do on any Colorado Springs itinerary–but this was in my pre-blogging days, so I have no photos tos hare!
Have you ever been to Colorado Springs? What’s your favorite place to explore?
