Colorado Springs Weekend Itinerary

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Two days is enough to cover the big things in Colorado Springs. Spend day one on Garden of the Gods and Old Colorado City. Use day two for Pikes Peak and Manitou Springs, then add whichever paid stop your group likes more — the zoo or Seven Falls. Almost everything below sits within twenty minutes of downtown, and it’s an easy 70-mile hop south of Denver if you’re stacking this onto a bigger trip.

I’ve built more than one Colorado weekend around this stretch of the Front Range, usually as a stopover on the way to or from a longer mountain trip. My favorite part is how compact it is — Pikes Peak sits right at the edge of the city, so I can ride the cog railway one morning and still be back downtown for lunch. Pack for both ends of the thermometer. It can be 70°F at Garden of the Gods and thirty degrees colder on the summit, same day.

2 Days in Colorado Springs

A two-day loop works because most of these stops cluster around Pikes Peak and downtown. Morning is the easiest time to find parking, too. Garden of the Gods and the Incline trailhead both fill up by mid-morning on weekends. Swap the zoo and Seven Falls below if your group prefers animals to waterfalls.

When	Stop	Approx. Cost
Day 1, morning	Garden of the Gods	Free
Day 1, midday	Old Colorado City	Free to browse
Day 1, afternoon	Manitou Incline or downtown Manitou Springs	Free (reservation for the Incline)
Day 2, morning	Pikes Peak Cog Railway	From $57–67 per person
Day 2, midday	Cheyenne Mountain Zoo or Broadmoor Seven Falls	Zoo priced by date; Seven Falls roughly $15–25
Day 2, afternoon	Air Force Academy visitor center	Free

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods costs nothing to visit. It never has. The park’s own site lists it as free to the public since 1909. Park hours run 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. from May through October, and to 9 p.m. the rest of the year. The Visitor & Nature Center opens later, at 9 a.m.

Red-rock formations are the real draw. The paved Perkins Central Garden Trail shows off the best of them without much of a climb. Go early. Parking fills fast on weekends, and the free summer shuttle only helps once you’re already inside the park. Rock climbers can register for a free permit at the Visitor & Nature Center rather than showing up and hoping; everyone else is fine sticking to the paved trail and pull-offs.

Old Colorado City is a five-minute drive downhill from the park entrance. It’s a few blocks of a former 1859 mining-supply town, now shops, galleries, and a solid lunch spot or two. Walking it costs nothing. It’s an easy way to fill the gap between Garden of the Gods and whatever comes next on your list.

Pikes Peak

There are two ways up Pikes Peak. Ride the cog railway, or drive it yourself on the Pikes Peak Highway. We’ve ridden the cog railway more than once, and the train is most of the fun. Glass roof panels. A narrated climb through the trees and past the treeline. Then time to walk around the 14,115-foot summit before heading back down.

The round trip runs about three and a half hours. The railway’s own site prices reserved online seats from $57 for kids and $67 for adults. Walk-up tickets cost more, so book ahead if your dates are firm. Driving is the other option. Check the current toll and any seasonal timing rules on the city’s Pikes Peak page before you go, since both change by season.

Either way, the altitude is real. Drink more water than usual. Skip the second cup of coffee. Take your first hour up top slow, not a sprint for photos.

Manitou Springs

Manitou Springs is the walkable old spa town at the foot of Pikes Peak. It’s worth at least half a day on its own. The Manitou Incline climbs roughly 2,000 feet in under a mile of old railroad ties. That’s steep enough that a free reservation is required before you can start, booked through the Incline’s own site. Plan on descending by the gentler Barr Trail, not the way you came up. Manitou Springs itself sits around 6,400 feet, a few hundred feet above downtown Colorado Springs, so the air already feels thinner before you’ve climbed a single step.

Skip the Incline entirely and Manitou Springs is still worth the stop. Downtown has a penny arcade older than most of us. Free public mineral-spring fountains sit along the sidewalks, there for the sampling. Add in enough patio restaurants to make lunch easy, and a five-minute drive from the Garden of the Gods entrance, and the two pair naturally into one afternoon.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is built into the mountainside above the city. That makes for a workout of a visit. Paths climb and drop between habitats instead of running flat like most zoos. The giraffe herd is the headline act, and hand-feeding them is the zoo’s best-known thing to do. Mountain lions, grizzly bears, and a walk-through hummingbird house round out a visit that easily fills half a day.

The zoo requires timed e-tickets booked in advance, for members and non-members alike, and busy days do sell out. Hours run 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wear real shoes. Between the elevation and the hills, this isn’t a stroll-and-look zoo.

Broadmoor Seven Falls

Seven Falls is a series of cascades stacked inside a narrow box canyon. A run of 224 steps climbs alongside them to trailheads at the top. It’s ticketed. Seven Falls’ own site prices admission by arrival window — mornings run around $25 for adults and $19 for kids, afternoons drop to about $21 and $15. Walk-up rates cost a few dollars more than booking online.

Skip the ticket and North Cheyenne Cañon Park sits right next door, free, with trails to Helen Hunt Falls and Silver Cascade Falls. Neither is as tall as Seven Falls. But the canyon setting is just as good, and you can turn around the minute the group is ready.

Air Force Academy Colorado Springs

The Air Force Academy’s Hosmer Visitor Center is free and open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. No base access is required to see it. The Cadet Chapel, the Academy’s most-photographed building, is a different story. The Academy’s own site lists it as closed for structural repairs, with a 2028 target completion. For now, you’ll be viewing those seventeen aluminum spires from outside.

Bring a REAL ID-compliant license or a passport. Visitors without one need to stop at the Pass and Registration Office first, and that costs time on a tight weekend. Give yourself extra runway getting onto the grounds. Wait times of an hour or more aren’t unusual at busy periods.

Best Time to Visit Colorado Springs

Late spring through early fall gives you the widest mix of open attractions and manageable weather. Summer is the busiest and priciest stretch. September trades some of that crowd for cooler mornings and lower rates. Winter keeps Garden of the Gods, downtown Manitou, and the Academy grounds open. It trims hours at the Incline and the cog railway, though, and can close parts of the Pikes Peak Highway. For a base, downtown puts you within walking distance of restaurants after a long day; the motels along I-25 near the Garden of the Gods exit cost less and still land you close to everything above.

Got a third day? The Royal Gorge is about 45 minutes west on US-50. Our Browns Canyon vs. Royal Gorge guide covers whether the bridge or the rafting is the better add-on. Heading north instead, read our Rocky Mountain National Park timed-entry guide before you go. Either direction, our road trip packing list covers the altitude layers this trip needs, no matter the season.

Prices are approximate, current as of publication, and change frequently — confirm the latest price with the retailer before buying.

Colorado Springs FAQ

How Many Days Do You Need in Colorado Springs?

Two days covers the highlights at an easy pace — Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, and Manitou Springs all fit. You’ll likely need to pick just one of the zoo or Seven Falls, though, unless you add a morning.

How Much Does It Cost to Visit Garden of the Gods?

Nothing. Garden of the Gods has been free to the public since 1909. There’s no charge for parking or the Visitor & Nature Center either.

Do You Need a Reservation for the Manitou Incline?

Yes, and it’s free. Reservations open on the Incline’s own site and fill up on weekends and holidays. Book a day or two ahead if you can.

Is the Air Force Academy Chapel Open?

No. The Cadet Chapel is closed for renovation, with a target completion of 2028. The visitor center and the rest of the grounds remain open daily.

Published October 6, 2026.