We had a great time in Colorado and while we were there we took the extra effort to go down south to the Colorado Springs area. This is about a 2 hour drive from where we were staying in Greeley, so it was worth it to book a night in a hotel so we could spend more time touristing around. We had two things on our mind to see: The Garden of the Gods and the Royal Gorge. We ended up seeing three because we also saw the Cave of the Winds. All of these I highly recommend if you are in the southern Colorado region. The landscape changes to be a little drier the further south you go and more and more juniper bushes become interspersed throughout the red rocky area.
Waiting to see the Cave of the Winds. Tickets were about $20 each but Aeden (children under 5 I think) was free
My mom and her first, and so far only, grandbaby
A lot of dinosaur fossils are found in this area so there are some museums and places that showcase it
The canyons in this area are insane!
When we first arrived to Colorado Springs!
The train was a huge part of how “the west was won”
We carried Aeden through some tight spots and steep stairs in this cool cave
Colorado flag flying proud. The yellow circle in the center of the C represents the sun
Fun in the Cave of the Winds
A fun cave with tight spots, but easy enough to do holding a baby
He seemed to enjoy it too!
While we waited for the tour I tried out my spelunking skills -haha
After the tour there was a beautiful rainbow over the canyons
Look! We caught a leprechaun at the end of a rainbow 🙂
So many photo ops!
On the drive back to the hotel from the cave we checked out the Garden of the Gods! So incredible and always FREE! This was the balance rock area
Such incredible formations!
Love these impressive backdrops!
Say cheese!
The next day we drove another hour to Canon City to see the Royal Gorge. We were there at the right place and time because it is normally $28 to cross
The ziplines and gondolas looked fun, but we just walked it
Tourist pose at the top checking out the HUGE suspension bridge we would be walking across
Fun with my mom. It was pretty cool, but wouldn’t be worth $28 just to cross in my opinion
On the other side of the bridge
There’s only so much you can do on a bridge, so I did a bridge! 🙂
Walking the 1/4 mile across and back
I looked for the PR flag, but there were only state flags there
Lookout point!
Overall we had a great time in southern Colorado!
What a beautiful piece of country!