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Colorado Vacation Destinations - Not Quite So Crowded, But Still Cool


Dbeasy

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Posted (edited)
47 minutes ago, Spur08 said:

Heading Colorado Springs in a few weeks for a little summer trip with the family (2 & 7 year old). Any must dos? Recs for places to eat?

Garden of the Gods is pretty obligatory.  Tour the Air Force Academy.  Do the drive up Pikes Peak.  Royal Gorge is an easy drive from the Springs.  Day trip to the Cripple Creek/Victor area.  The Broadmoor's grounds are worth a stop, IMO.

Edited by Carl Spackler
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Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, Spur08 said:

Heading Colorado Springs in a few weeks for a little summer trip with the family (2 & 7 year old). Any must dos? Recs for places to eat?

Kings Chef or Denver Biscuit for Breakfast. Skirted Heifer has a good Burger. Fat Sully's and Slice 420 have good Pizza. Ton's of Breweries. 

Things to do Manitou Springs, Garden of the Gods, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Pikes Peak, Seven Falls. 4th ID Museum at Fort Carson, Royal Gorge, and Skyline Drive are close by. 

Edited by mbtex
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Posted (edited)
13 hours ago, Carl Spackler said:

Garden of the Gods is pretty obligatory.  Tour the Air Force Academy.  Do the drive up Pikes Peak.  Royal Gorge is an easy drive from the Springs.  Day trip to the Cripple Creek/Victor area.  The Broadmoor's grounds are worth a stop, IMO.

+1 on Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak drive

Take the train which runs along Arkansas River through the Royal Gorge. It starts and ends in Canon City. Your kids will enjoy it. https://www.royalgorgeroute.com/ Canon City is kinda dumpy and not much to do.

Then drive to the top of the bridge and see the gorge from that perspective. https://royalgorgebridge.com/

When driving back, take a small 5-20 min detour to Skyline drive. https://maps.app.goo.gl/byK6sxjTBXDC5j5d8

Manitou Springs is a nice little town to walk around. https://www.visitcos.com/areas/manitou-springs/

Seven Falls is an easy, beautiful hike/climb. You can do this when you visit the Broadmoor. https://www.sevenfalls.com/

 

We took our kids twice to Colorado Springs when they were 4 and 6, and again at 6 and 8. Both times they loved everything that we did on the list.

 

Edit: Warning, all these things will be touristy and crowded. Your kids won't care or remember the crowds. They'll remember the experience.

 

Edited by crash_davis
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My family and I (wife, now 17 yr old son, 8 yr old girl) have enjoyed spending a couple of Christmases in the Woodland Park/Cripple Creek area. My wife (from Brazil, NO pics) has always wanted to spend a "Christmas with snow in the mountains". Something that doesn't happen much in East Texas. So, a few years ago we got an Airbnb in the middle of nowhere (address said Cripple Creek). It was really magical. Just us four in a small cabin with as much snow as we could ever want. We could see Pike's Peak in the distance and spent a lot of time playing games, watching movies, and playing in the snow.

On our first trip about 4 years ago, we drove to Colorado Springs to go ice skating and some shopping. We also went to Santa's North Pole Amusement Park (about a 35-40 min drive from where we were) at the base of Pike's Peak two days before Christmas. It was a fun little amusement park with great views and is home to the "highest elevated ferris wheel in the US". Uh, we rode it and I was not a fan. :)Looked like I was going to fall off the side of the mountain. We spent Christmas Eve/Day enjoying the peace and quiet and a nice fire .

We went back two years ago and took my in-laws with us. We stayed in a different place not too far from where we originally stayed a couple years before. This trip we spent some more time in Colorado Springs, visited the Garden of the Gods, and drove to Breckenridge to check out the town and do some tubing. It was a blast. I WILL SAY: If you go during the Winter, drive a vehicle with AWD or 4x4. We drove a front-wheel drive minivan (to fit everyone) and had to use chains several times, including driving through Hoosier Pass. It was hectic. 

If we go to this area again, which I hope to do, we will look at finding a place in Woodland Park, west of Colorado Springs. Not as secluded as what we did before, but definitely more convenient. While we did drive through Cripple Creek on both visits, we did not do any gambling. 

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Colorado Springs -

Zoo would be great.  

Up in Divide which is about 45-50min drive, there was/is a wolf and wildlife rescue facility that I recall had a great tour.  Its been years since I went but everyone enjoyed it and they seemed to be doing work worth supporting.

Not suitable for the 2yr old, and not sure if you can register without being a guest, but the beginner falconry experience at the Boadmoor is incredible.  Amazing birds and they do some cool exhibitions.

Have done Pike's Peak both by car and Cog Railway.  Value in both.

I'm not a big fan of heights (more accurate to say I'm scared of falling from heights).  That said, adventurous folks love Royal Gorge and that f'ing slingshot skycoaster thing.

There's more than enough to do in that area to keep you occupied.  Ditto basically everything said above.

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Negatory. I have full comp and collision on mine, and liability of 300/500/100, and a two million dollar umbrella. I've got multi-millionaire CEOs on my deer lease, no way I get myself into a situation where I don't have coverage comparative to my net worth. If I were Colorado, I would make the people that bring side by sides show proof of full coverage, and attach a visible sticker that shows their insurance coverage was checked and provides full coverage, if not, leave the bitch at home, or on the trailer.
We have contemplated doing an August trip to Ouray and taking the side by side over Imogene to Telluride, then back on Black Bear. Sit in the hot springs for a few days, visit my old freshman roommate that lives in Telluride.
CHIEF
They aren't street legal here with the exception of a couple places, so nobody registers or insures them.
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45 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:
On 6/3/2024 at 10:27 PM, CHIEF said:
Negatory. I have full comp and collision on mine, and liability of 300/500/100, and a two million dollar umbrella. I've got multi-millionaire CEOs on my deer lease, no way I get myself into a situation where I don't have coverage comparative to my net worth. If I were Colorado, I would make the people that bring side by sides show proof of full coverage, and attach a visible sticker that shows their insurance coverage was checked and provides full coverage, if not, leave the bitch at home, or on the trailer.
We have contemplated doing an August trip to Ouray and taking the side by side over Imogene to Telluride, then back on Black Bear. Sit in the hot springs for a few days, visit my old freshman roommate that lives in Telluride.
CHIEF

They aren't street legal here with the exception of a couple places, so nobody registers or insures them.

They are not legal here either. But you can get the same coverage as you get on your street vehicles. The premiums are high, but UTVs are inherently much more dangerous than a road vehicle. Had an acquaintance killed last year elk hunting in Colorado when his UTV rolled over. No seatbelt, so it threw him out and rolled over the top of him. Driving one without at least liability is foolish.

I called CHIEF Jr. and his buddies and asked them what they were up to. They were eating pizza, drinking beer, and watching He-Man reruns. Helluva bachelor party. There are only three of them there until Friday, one is married, one is the future groom, and the truly only single guy is CHIEF Jr. They have three other single guys driving out from Denver on Friday.

CHIEF

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They are not legal here either. But you can get the same coverage as you get on your street vehicles. The premiums are high, but UTVs are inherently much more dangerous than a road vehicle. Had an acquaintance killed last year elk hunting in Colorado when his UTV rolled over. No seatbelt, so it threw him out and rolled over the top of him. Driving one without at least liability is foolish.
I called CHIEF Jr. and his buddies and asked them what they were up to. They were eating pizza, drinking beer, and watching He-Man reruns. Helluva bachelor party. There are only three of them there until Friday, one is married, one is the future groom, and the truly only single guy is CHIEF Jr. They have three other single guys driving out from Denver on Friday.
CHIEF


Sure, you can get the coverage, but most folks I know do not. The demographic that loves side by sides is not the financially responsible one in my experience.
Any recommendations on altitude acclimation quickly? In the past we bought some oxygen bottles and that seemed to work pretty well. 
Tell your body to make hemoglobin faster?
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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:


 

 


Sure, you can get the coverage, but most folks I know do not. The demographic that loves side by sides is not the financially responsible one in my experience. Tell your body to make hemoglobin faster?

 

I'm pretty sure that if they have a lender, on the UTV, that it is required. Most of these are $25k-35k vehicles, and that demographic doesn't care how much it cost, just how much is it per month. Just part of being financially irresponsible. The lenders do not want to get back a fucked up vehicle that they can't recover their cost if it is totaled. I financed mine at 0.99%, so why not. But I paid cash for all of the upgrades. The 10 year old single cab Ranger that a farmer paid $7500 for, probably not. But they are still idiots for not having liability. I had one of those, but still carried liability. Let's be honest, most of what you see on the trails are $40-50k rigs that still have a $45k note, and people with shitty driving records. My lender required it, I was going to do it anyway, so the financing made sense.

CHIEF

Edited by CHIEF
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And Chewy, I'm not trying to be obstinate. I've seen what gets driven on the trails in Colorado. I'm guessing at least 75% of the UTVs have to have full coverage because of the liens on them.

CHIEF

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I'm pretty sure that if they have a lender, on the UTV, that it is required. Most of these are $25k-35k vehicles, and that demographic doesn't care how much it cost, just how much is it per month. Just part of being financially irresponsible. The lenders do not want to get back a fucked up vehicle that they can't recover their cost if it is totaled. I financed mine at 0.99%, so why not. But I paid cash for all of the upgrades. The 10 year old single cab Ranger that a farmer paid $7500 for, probably not. But they are still idiots for not having liability. I had one of those, but still carried liability. Let's be honest, most of what you see on the trails are $40-50k rigs that still have a $45k note, and people with shitty driving records. My lender required it, I was going to do it anyway, so the financing made sense.
CHIEF
Lenders don't give a fuck about liability, they only care that their collateral is insured. But car insurance is required, too. Look at how many assholes are out there driving around uninsured.
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I was an insurance agent in a former life. If someone doesn't have liability and looses a lawsuit, the lender isn't getting paid. I don't know of many agents that will cover a vehicle if there isn't liability coverage from somewhere. Farmers get it from their Farm & Ranch policy, it is extended to their tractors, UTVs, and other implements via the policy. Those are available through Farm Bureau and Germania , insurers that specifically have policies set up for farmers and ranchers.

CHIEF

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I was an insurance agent in a former life. If someone doesn't have liability and looses a lawsuit, the lender isn't getting paid. I don't know of many agents that will cover a vehicle if there isn't liability coverage from somewhere. Farmers get it from their Farm & Ranch policy, it is extended to their tractors, UTVs, and other implements via the policy. Those are available through Farm Bureau and Germania , insurers that specifically have policies set up for farmers and ranchers.
CHIEF


Your claim that the majority of side by sides are carrying auto insurance levels of liability coverage when they are not required to by any law is woefully uninformed.

I think it's great you do and I think everyone should. But they just don't.
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16 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

Any recommendations on altitude acclimation quickly? In the past we bought some oxygen bottles and that seemed to work pretty well. 

MoJames said it post 147. Acetazolamide

https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2020/0415/p505.html

Acetazolamide aids in acclimatization and should be strongly considered for high-altitude travelers at moderate to high risk of AMS. The recommended prophylactic dosage for adults is 125 mg every 12 hours; the dosage for children is 2.5 mg per kg (maximum: 125 mg) every 12 hours. Acetazolamide should be started the day before ascent and continued for two to four days after arrival at the target altitude. However, it still has beneficial effects if started the day of ascent. Although acetazolamide is a sulfonamide, it is extremely unlikely to cause an allergic reaction; a supervised trial can be considered before traveling

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