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Sitting On Top of the World - Adventures Around Colorado Springs, CO

Sitting On Top of the World - Adventures Around Colorado Springs, CO

Assistant Manager of our Baton Rouge store, Will Eastin, shares about some of his favorite moments on his adventures through Colorado this week with his fiancée Madi.

Garden of the Gods

The Garden of the Gods is right outside of Colorado Springs, CO and free to the public with paved walking trails as well as more primitive hiking trails. Madi and I took the scenic route and hiked all the way from the main entrance to Balanced Rock - a huge rock balancing on a smaller rock - it’s an incredible feature of mother nature that defies law of physics.

 

Pikes Peak


Pikes Peak is 12 miles from Colorado Springs, CO and only 3 miles from Manitou Springs. Madi and I took the longest contiguous cog railway in the world 8.9 miles up the mountain at a 25 degree gradient. The trip takes about an hour and 10 mins to reach the peak at 14,115 ft of elevation.The views from Pikes Peak are unparalleled, being the highest peak in the front most portion of the Rocky Mountains - you can see all the way from the continental divide to the Kansas state line. on the train ride up the mountain you’ll see beautiful rock formations and waterfalls and once you arrive at the summit you have an hour to explore the elevation and the views and if you’re lucky you may even see some rams. I can't wait to go back and actually climb it!

 

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park is two and a half hours west of Colorado Springs, CO. The drive through the valleys and at the base of the mountains is amazing enough to make the trip, but the dunes themself dwarf everything around them. The highest dune reaches a height of 905 feet base to summit, which is a bit intimidating challenge, but well worth the feeling of being completely alone in the dessert. The park is 30 square miles, so with a little effort it’s easy to avoid any other hikers or campers. Medano Creek runs though the park and is a great place to cool off and wash some sand off of your feet. If you get the chance to spend the night GSD National Park is ranked as one of the darkest places in the contiguous US the stars are bright and beautiful, not something everyone gets to see often.