Colorado is so beautiful, and we have spent some time here in the past. In 2009, we enjoyed a week of skiing in the Colorado Mountains. Todd came to Colorado with the boy scouts when he was growing up. I visited Colorado several times in high school on family road trips and with my high school choir. We love Colorado, and were really excited to explore some of the state with our kids! My cousin, Jim, and his girlfriend Meredith live in Silverthorne so we spent a few nights with him and explored the surrounding area.

We hiked around Lake Dillon and the kids loved the playground there with a fantastic view of the lake and surrounding mountains! The aspens were just turning so the golden color was fantastic! We also enjoyed exploring downtown Frisco. It’s an adorable and eclectic little town with some fun stores and delicious places to eat.

Garden of the Gods

After a few nights visiting with Jim & Meredith, we continued on to Colorado Springs. I had never spent any time here, so I was excited to explore all there was to see! We stayed at the campground at the United States Air Force Academy just north of Colorado Springs. The first day we were in town, we went straight to the Garden of the Gods.

We explored the beautiful visitor & nature center first. The visitor center is a beautiful building with a café and several brand new displays. The views from the windows of the park with Pike’s Peak in the distance are beautiful, and the volunteers at the desk are more than happy to help you decide how to spend your day!

We decided to take the on-way road through the park to the Perkins Central Garden Trail. This is the trail through the main rock formations in the center of the park. The trail is 1.5 miles of paved sidewalk along the base of the largest rock formations. You can weave in and out of the rock formations and make the hike as long or as short as you want to. We explored the entire trail and the kids were able to walk the whole way and climb up on and through the rocks. They had a great time!

We spent about an hour and a half exploring this area, and then we continued on the one-way drive through the park to the Siamese Twins Trail. This trail is an easy 1 mile trail up to an interesting rock formation called the Siamese Twins. The view through the rock formation is a unique perspective of Pikes Peak in the distance. The trail was fun and the kids enjoyed hiking most of the way on their own!

Next we continued on the road through the park to Balanced Rock, a huge boulder seemingly perched on its side with nothing holding it up! We all took turns holding the rock up with our unmatched strength, along with all the other visitors to the park. Heading out of the park, we stopped at the Garden of the Gods Trading Post – an art gallery, gift shop and café all in one.

Pike’s Peak

On day 2 in Colorado Springs, we attended a Fall Festival at the Focus on the Family headquarters.  Focus on the Family is a Christian ministry based on Colorado Springs. The day we decided to visit they were hosting a fun family event where the kids got to explore the entire headquarters and complete a scavenger hunt for treasures and candy. They have a huge bookstore and a fantastic kid play area back-dropped with a beautiful grass lawn. The kids had a blast playing and exploring all there was to see and do!

In the afternoon, we headed up the 19-mile Pikes Peak Highway to the summit of the 14,115 foot peak. The drive winds all the way up the mountain, but there are many stops along the way with beautiful views. We chose to stop at the Crystal Reservoir where the kids enjoyed throwing rocks in the lake. Here we took in the breath-taking scenery of the forest and water with the peak in the background. It was considerably cooler already at this stop, so we were thankful for the jackets we brought.

We finally made it to the Summit House at the peak. The views of the valley beneath and the surrounding mountains was incredible! We enjoyed some hot chocolate and delicious donuts – the only ones made at an elevation above 14,000 feet they claim – and tried to stay warm!

If we had planned ahead more, it would have been cool to take the Broadmoor’s Pikes Peak Cog Railway up to the summit. We watched the train leave as we were enjoying the view and the kids wished we could’ve taken it down. But, on our way down Emelia spotted several big-horn sheep on the side of the road! After naps during the drive down, we all enjoyed a quiet evening at the campsite.

Air Force Academy Chapel

On our last morning in Colorado Springs, we enjoyed a church service at the iconic Air Force Academy Chapel. The kids explored the airplanes on display and Visitor’s Museum before we began our drive north to Fort Collins for the evening.