My husband and I and our 17 year old daughter will be taking a trip to Colorado Springs from July 28th through August 7th. We will be in town for State Games of America at a figure skating competition, so much of our time will be taken up with that. We have already done Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, and Pike's Peak (on our last trip) but we are interested in some day trips. We will be in Pueblo some days as well.

Any suggestions for some day trips, restaurants, or sightseeing?

Thanks, Jane

Canon City (Royal Gorge), Florissant Fossil Beds, Cripple Creek, Cave of the Winds, Briggles Pottery?

head out hwy 24 towards woodland park. continue on to wilkerson pass and stop there. you will have a magnificient vista of south park (a huge open flat area of ranch land) and the high mtns -which will have snow on the peaks in the distance. take a lunch. take a hike. drive into eleven mile resovoir. or continue over wilkerson to buena vista and go to the hot springs for a nice soak. co spgs to buena vista is approx 2 hours.
or go to pueblo that way. go to bv, head south on 285 to salida then east on 50 to pueblo.
i will assume you have a good reason to visit pueblo and are not just going because it is close to the springs. it is not an attractive town and frankly i would pick anywhere in the state to visit above there. golly jane -now i'm hoping your entire family is not from there....
ps - good luck to your skater!

Thanks Virginia and Sylvia. No, we are from Massachusetts! We have to practice in Pueblo. That's our only reason for going there. Sorry Pueblo-ites!

I've never heard of Briggles Pottery. I LOVE pottery. I'll have to check that out. Have you heard of Bennington Pottery? If you are ever in Vermont......

We wanted to go to the Royal Gorge in 2005, but we ran out of time. Buena Vista sounds very Colorado-ish. Perfect!

I'm going to look up the Florissant Fossil Beds, Cripple Creek, and Cave of the Winds tonight.

Thank you both!

Jane

Pueblo has a new riverwalk - I haven't seen it yet. We do go down to Pueblo to go to the Mesa Drive-In. Pueblo has beautiful parks. http://www.frontierpathways.org/Destination/index.htm

Here is a Colorado Springs link with good information: http://www.experiencecoloradosprings.com/

The pottery is Van Briggle--here's the website http://www.vanbriggle.com/

thanks for the "van" correction & link, martym; it's certainly famous enough that I shouldn't have spaced!

The Van Briggle tour isn't all that exciting. I'd suggest the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo if you've never been there. Really a nice zoo that offers fantastic views of the city, as it sits in the foothills behind the 5-star Broadmoor Hotel, which is also worth seeing. In fact, the World Figure Skating Museum and Hall of Fame is located near the Broadmoor. You would probably enjoy that, given your connection to the sport! You can learn more at their website at worldskatingmuseum.org.

Woodland Park has an excellent dinosaur museum. You can learn more at rmdrc.com/