My fellow Americans from Colorado, is one day enough to see the major sites in Mantou Springs?

8 comments

1. r/Colorado would eliminate 98% of us plebians

2. No it’s not very realistic, Pikes Peak Cog Railway takes hours and Garden of the Gods is pretty huge especially if you want to walk some of it. Those two alone I think you could do in a day.

   Cave in the Winds and Cliff Dwellings are both kind of neat but I don’t think you could do all 4 and these would be the two to skip.

   I came from Illinois and didn’t have a problem with altitude sickness but my daughter barfed lol.

3. Oddly specific, I think you’re likely to get better responses on /r/colorado.

   I don’t remember mantou springs too much, but I remember garden of the gods so I guess I’ve been there.

   I would say not to schedule more than 2 of these on a given day. Even if the activity is like a half an hour, you’re talking 30 minutes getting there and back, so it will be tough to fit in two before lunch unless you’re out the door by 8…and then you’re rushing around on your vacation which sucks.

   Rocky mountain national park stands out to me because it isnt anywhere near manitou springs. You’re in the wrong half of the state to visit it and you’ll need a day just to drive from one to the other. Keep travel times in mind as youre making your itinerary around the state.

   At the higher altitudes like pikes peak altitude sickness is a real consideration. Most likely it will manifest as you being able to walk/hike about a quarter as much as you normally could. However be on the look out for more serious symptoms, as they are rare but can be very serious risks to your health.

4. Not realistic. Two days, sure. The railway takes a couple hours roundtrip. You could easily spend a couple hours wandering Garden of the Gods. Cliff Dwellings and Cave of Winds are like an hour or so each. This doesn’t account for tiring these activities are or how well you or your group handle the altitude change.

   Just do Garden of the Gods early in the morning (it’s busy) and Pikes Peak later on.

5. Since 325 million of us DONT live in Colorado, you’d probably have more luck getting an answer in a Colorado based sub.

6. Skip Boulder or Denver. Take two days in the Springs. Or skip both and do a final day rafting in Canon City.

   Denver is a decent city, but it’s just a city. There’s nothing particularly amazing about it. Boulder is just a rich suburb, it’s not in the mountains or anything. As far as bars/restaurants/breweries and the like, Colorado Springs has a ton of great places instead of going to Boulder, I could give a bunch of recommendations.

   If you aren’t moving on this list, skip Cliff Dwellings and Cave of the Winds, or skip Pike’s Peak and incorporate Mt. Evans into your Denver day

   Drink water, you will be fine for altitude sickness

7. No, that’s too much for a day. Just do Garden of the Gods in the morning and Pikes in the evening like the other poster said.

   You will need a reservation for pikes, FYI.

   Yes, you will probably have some form of altitude sickness from Pikes but how bad is impossible to say. For most people you’ll feel a little light headed and a small stomach ache if you’re up there for an hour or so but it’s possible it could be worse. More than likely he will be okay and it’ll go away as soon as you descend but it probably will feel a little weird.

8. I didn’t have any problems with the altitude, but some people did on the Cog’s railway up to Pike’s peak. They say to drink plenty of water. It really helps.

   I also had a few days to acclimate to the altitude in Denver before going all the way up and took it easy on the booze. Enjoy your trip. Pike’s Peak looks like another planet.