October 25, 2022

THE BROADMOOR MANITOU AND PIKES PEAK COG RAILWAY

PIKES PEAK

515 Ruxton Ave, Manitou Springs, CO 80829

“The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway is a cog railway that climbs one of the most iconic mountains in the United States, Pikes Peak in Colorado. The base station is in Manitou Springs, near Colorado Springs.” - Wikipedia

“Pikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, in North America. The ultra-prominent 14,115-foot fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, 12 miles west of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. The town of Manitou Springs lies at its base.” - Wikipedia

Somewhere around the time I was in sixth grade my family took a trip “out west.”  Pikes Peak is one of only about six places I remember visiting, therefore my return to Colorado had to include a trip to the peak’s summit.  On the family trip we drove to the top, I still remember the hairpin corners and absence of guard rails.  Those memories didn’t scare me, but I wanted to enjoy the scenery on the trip which I knew I wouldn’t be able to do while white-knuckle driving up and down the mountain., so I opted to take the Cog Railway instead.

The cog train provided me the scenic views I was looking for, and for that reason alone I would recommend taking the train.  Never mind the train had a full load of people, even in this last week of October.  Never mind the seats, which face each other, were close together, which necessitated the meeting of strangers.  And never mind the trip up took one hour as did the trip back down.  I got some good photos, and the ride was relaxing.  However, if I were to take the railway again, I would sit on the three-seat side as I think it afforded more picturesque vistas than did the two-seat side that I sat on.  The trip down the mountain was relatively uneventful, with the exception of spotting some Big Horn Sheep out in a meadow (out the other side of the railway car, of course).  A piece of advice:  take along a bottle (or two) of water as they are very expensive in the gift shop, but necessary for the trek up and down the mountain.

Once we reached the summit, we only had about 35 minutes to explore.  Mind you the temperature was in the teens with a windchill of 0°, therefore I didn’t spend a lot of time outdoors looking for all the perfect photographs.  Also, as we had been warned, the atmosphere at 14,000 can cause some people issues, and I did feel a little light-headed a couple of times, so I cautiously intermingle exploring outdoors and spending time in the new visitor’s center.  Just before having to board the cog rail to return to the base, I indulged and tried to of Pikes Peak’s “world famous” doughnuts.  They were good and not as expensive as I thought they might be, but I’m not sure why they are “world famous.”

All-in-all, it was a good trip.  If I were to return, I might consider driving, but only to have more time at the summit.  I might also try to go a little earlier in the year, hoping the summit wouldn’t be quite as cold.  I know, the trade-off would be the summit would be much more crowded earlier in the year.