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Monday, March 13, 2017

Manitou Springs, Colorado


Manitou Springs, Colorado, is a small and charming town minutes away from Colorado Springs, and nestled between Garden of the Gods Park and America's most famous mountain, Pikes Peak. The word "Manitou," is a Native American word for "great spirit." Ute, Cheyenne and other Native American tribes attributed the natural mineral springs they found in the area as sacred, as a place of peace and healing.  General William Jackson Palmer, a western railroad magnate,  and Dr. William Abraham Bell founded the town of Manitou Springs in 1872, intending the town to be a "scenic health resort."

 We visited the town in the fall of 2016, where most of these photos originate, and again recently when we had some family members visiting us--see that post on this link, and I thought I'd tell you more about this interesting and historical town.
(All photos, and photo collages, will enlarge when clicked on)


This boulder near the center of town marks the eastern end of the Ute Pass Trail, one of the oldest Native American Trails in the United States. The Ute Pass Trail runs along the north side of Pikes Peak. Native Americans first paved the trail on their travel over the the Ute Pass, and then in the 1860's it became a wagon road.  Now it is used for hiking, biking, running or horseback riding. The trail head is located near the Pikes Peak Cog Railroad parking lot.

 Please click on to enlarge

As you can see by the photos above there were many natural mineral springs located in the area that the ancient peoples and Native Americans used for eons. These waters became known as "healing waters" and during the Victorian era when diseases like tuberculosis was rampart people sought out natural cures. Mineral water was felt to cure liver, kidney and digestive aliments. 

Please click on to enlarge

The town of Manitou Springs was built up around these springs and became a resort area with bath houses, a mineral water bottling plant and hotels and spas.  If you enlarge the collage above you can read where the mineral water originates from and more about the town history.


 Manitou Springs has eleven naturally carbonated mineral spring drinking fountains throughout the historic district, and eight of these springs are open to the public to sample for free. Each one tastes a little different from the next. You can get a map of all the mineral spring fountain locations at the Manitou Springs Visitor Center, located at 354 Manitou Avenue. They will also provide you with a plastic cup if you ask for one. 
My husband and I enjoyed searching out all the springs and sampling small sips of the water. Our favorite was Seven Minute Spring, located in a park near the beginning of town.  We felt it taste similar to club soda. Our least favorite was the Iron Geyser, which is closest to the mountain along Ruxton Creek, and definitely has a strong metallic iron taste. We could see why it was called "the strongest of tonics" at one time! 

 The other mineral fountains are the Shoshone, the Navajo, the Cheyenne, the Wheeler, the Stratton, and the Twin.

 If you click on the highlighter names of the fountains it will bring you to the Mineral Springs Foundation page that will describe the characteristics of each spring and its location.


The historic center of Manitou Spring is filled with interesting and picturesque Victorian era architecture


I particularly liked this baby blue building, on Canon Avenue, that was built in 1887 by Dr Isaac Davis to house his pharmacy. It is now privately owned as an artist's studio.


 Please click on photo to enlarge

The Wheeler Town Clock was donated by Jerome Wheeler in 1889 for the opening of the Manitou Mineral Water Bottling Company that existed at that time. Click on the photo to read more about this historical clock.

 Please click on to enlarge

The Nolan House was built by John Nolan in 1890.  Nolan was the owner of the Colorado Springs Lumber Company at the time and also owned several saloons and a Cripple Creek gambling hall. Click on the photo to read more about the house.

Please click on to enlarge

The Cliff House was built in 1874 by two Canadian investors and was the second largest hotel in Manitou Springs at the time.  It was visited by many famous people over time--click on the photo to read its history.  This Queen Anne style hotel has been fully renovated and is still used as a hotel and event center..


My husband and I dined in the elegant  Cliff House Dining Room for a delicious lunch.


 A another step back into time is the Miramont Castle Museum. This incredible Victorian style castle has over 30 rooms and nine styles of architecture. Built in the late 1890's by a French priest, Jean Baptiste Francolon, who came to Manitou Springs in hopes of restoring his ailing health. His mother and her servants joined him soon after. The family came from wealth and the mansion was filled with artwork, fine furnishings and tapestries. The Francolons left for France in 1900, never to return. In 1907 the Sisters of Mercy purchased the mansion to use it as a tuberculosis sanitarium for twenty years.  In 1928 it became a boarding house and vacation retreat for the wealthy until 1946 when it became privately owned. In 1976 the Manitou Springs Historical Society purchased the mansion as their headquarters and began renovations.  It now conducts tours of the house, many events throughout the year, and hosts a tearoom for High Tea and light Victorian Tea, reservations required.


 The historic district of town is lined with many unique shops, art galleries and trading posts filled with handcrafted Native American treasures.  Manitou Springs is home to many artists, and attracts a young bohemian crowd, especially during the summer months.


Another attraction in town that draws athletes, and the physically fit who like a challenges, is the Manitou Incline, seen looming over the main street in the foothill above.


A close up of the incline.

The Manitou Incline is the remains of a former narrow gauge funicular railway, whose tracks washed out during a rock slide in 1990. It is now used as a fitness challenge trail, as it has steep grades of 45% to 68%, and gains over 2,000 feet (610 m) of elevation in less than one mile. It recently went through renovations from August, 2016 to December, 2017 and is now open again.  


Do you think you are up to the challenge of hiking so many steps at such a steep climb?


The Manitou Springs Penny Arcade is located at 930 Manitou Avenue in the middle of town, and is one of the oldest and largest amusement arcades west of the Mississippi! With over 250 machines dating back to actual penny pinball machines to modern video game machines, skeeball, and rides for small children, this area has been a favorite attraction for many, many years.



Opened in 1891, the Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railroad, is the highest cog railroad in the world! It is located at 515 Ruxton Avenue in Manitou Springs.  You can purchase tickets to ride the railroad--reservations required a few days in advance--most months of  the year, to visit the top of Pikes Peak, at an elevation of 14,115 feet, and back.  A train runs every 80 minutes, with an average grade of 12%, and at times reaches a grade of 24%.  Once on top of the mountain you will be able to see five states on a clear day! 
When my younger brother visited Colorado a couple years ago in October we took a ride together up the cog railroad and really enjoyed the views!  To see my blog post about driving up Pikes Peak in the summer, click here.  The panorama from the top of the mountain is remarkable!

Some famous people from Manitou Springs past.


Sadly, in 2012, the Waldo Canyon Fire occurred near Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs and Woodland Park. It destroyed 346 houses, killed two people, and burned 18,247 acres (28.511 sq miles) in the Pike National Forest.  The burn area created "burn scar flood" in 2013 as rain water increased flow in six waterways and picked up mud and debris that caused damage to many homes and businesses in Manitou Springs. Much mitigation was done and the resilient town is thriving again.  It is definitely a wonderful place to visit, and to stay, to enjoy many local attractions.  Come and sample the mineral water, climb the incline, shop in the quaint stores and dine in one of the many restaurants.  You will have a memorable time!
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Monday, February 28, 2022

Garden of the Gods with Friends




In my last blog post--click here--I showed a few local places along the Colorado Front Range where we took close friends that were visiting from the east and staying with us for days before a ski trip.  On another day my husband and I decided to take them to Colorado Springs to see another one of our favorite places, the Garden of the Gods Park. (See some more extensive prior posts about the park here and here.)   When we approached the north entrance of the park it was unfortunately closed as road and sewer construction was going on, so we had to skip the visitor center in that area and enter the park through the southern entrance. There we almost immediately saw one of the most popular attractions: Balanced Rock.  We parked in a nearby lot so we could take photos of the rock and our friends had fun posing with it, as you can see.



Balanced Rock is at 6,286 feet (1915.9 M) elevation in the park. Doesn't it look like it could topple over at any minute?  




We drove on to see more...




The Garden of the Gods Park is a registered National Natural Landmark. It is full of towering sandstone rock formations against a backdrop of snow-capped Pikes Peak and brilliant blue skies. It contains 21 miles of trails and is popular for hiking, technical rock climbing, road and mountain biking, and horseback riding. It attracts more than two million visitors a year, making it the city's most visited park.  



Although we did stop to walk a few short trails we mainly drove around the park on this visit it was late afternoon when we arrived and winter daylight would not be lasting much longer.




The waning sunlight made the formations glow.




That is what we love about the park as each season and time of day can bring different views and effects.




One happy surprise is seeing a herd of wild Bighorn Sheep eating in one of the fields in the park!




We spent quite a bit of time taking photos of them.  Although their numbers are growing, and they are the official mammal of the state of Colorado, seeing them in person is a rarity, as they usually habitat in the wilderness at high elevations.




A view of some of the trails inside the park.




A view looking at Juniper Way Loop, looking South.


The rock formations are breathtaking...





...and so colorful!





It was a wonderful drive



More of the beautiful giant red rocks structures including a view of snow-capped Pikes Peak --America's Mountain--in the upper right of the photo collage above.  Pikes Peak is a 14,115-foot (4,302.31 m) high mountain located in Pike National Forest.  My husband and I have driven to the top of the mountain many times and took the Cog Railroad to the top once.  There have been many renovations happening on the mountain with a new visitors center and new cog railroad track and cars--click here-- to see a visit we made with friends to see those renovations in progress last summer.  The famous "Kissing Camels" formation is seen in the lower right photo in the collage above.




Before we left the Colorado Springs area we took a drive to historic Manitou Springs, located at the foot of Pike's Peak. Please click on the photo collage above to enlarge it for easier viewing.




Please click on the photo to enlarge it to read the information on the placard.

There are eight naturally-carbonated mineral springs in Manitou Springs. Deep underground beneath the town is a system of cavernous aquifers whose healing waters have drawn people to the town for centuries. Our friends sampled the water at one of the springs.  My husband and I sampled the mineral water at each of the fountains in Manitous Springs one summer, and you can see more about them and the town in this post.




Another wildlife sighting and traffic jam made us laugh as we left Manitou Springs!  A flock of Wild Turkeys was crossing the road!




They seemed to enjoy peeking at the rocks of a Sinclair Gasoline Station and the green brontosaurus sculpture did not scare them a bit!




The light was fading as we drove home...




...and we were fortunate to see a gorgeous golden sunset light up the entire Colorado Front Range!

Our friends left the next day to go skiing in Steamboat Springs, where they had a wonderful time. We hope they will return in the future for another visit with us and another ski adventure. It was so much fun to share some of our favorite places with them and we will have even more show them next time



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Sunday, March 2, 2025

Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs


A Beautiful view of 14,107-foot (4,299.83 m) Pikes Peak from the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.



 As I have written in my past few blog posts, my best friend Rosemary visited us last March from Brooklyn, New York, and we spent a few days showing her our favorite Colorado sites. We went to Red Rocks Amphitheater, and walked along giant red rocks onto its stage, drove along the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway through canyons and mountain valleys, spent an afternoon admiring the beautiful snow-covered mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park, and on our last day together we drove down to visit the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.


As Garden of the Gods is a National Natural Landmark and is one of our favorite places to visit I have blogged about it many times, as you can read in sequence on this blog tab. We always begin with a visit to the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center to enjoy its interesting exhibits.


The "Kissing Camels" Formation

We drove around the 1,367 acres of the park to admire the outstanding geologic features of the park. There are magnificent ancient sedimentary beds of deep red, pink, and white sandstone, conglomerates, and limestones that were deposited horizontally but have now been tilted vertically by the immense mountain-building forces caused by the uplift of the Rocky Mountains and Pikes Peak massif. You can read about the history of the park on this link.











This is a photo of Rosemary and me at the Balanced Rock formation, which is at 6,286 feet (1915.9 M) elevation in the park. Doesn't it look like the rock could topple over at any minute? It is a favorite photo spot for all visitors.



A close-up


There are so many beautiful rock formations in the park


We enjoyed stopping to admire many views during our visit.



Please click on the photo above to enlarge it in order to read the placard.

We stopped briefly in the nearby town of Manitou Springs to show Rosemary the iconic mineral springs.



Please click on the photo above to enlarge it to read the placard--March is Women's History Month!

Manitou Springs is an interesting and historical town--I wrote a blog post about it a few years ago which you can read here.

It was time to drive back to our town where we were going out to a goodbye dinner with Rosemary as she was flying back home the next morning. We wanted to show her so much more, but it will have to wait until her next visit which will hopefully happen very soon!

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