Manitou Springs: Home of the Spirit .. Railway to the Sky

Manitou Springs, Colo., whose many mountain-fed underground springs were thought by early Native Americans to be the watering place of the Great Spirit (‘Manitou’), is the last stop on the way from Colorado Springs International Airport to the 14,100-foot high summit of Pike’s Peak. The cog-wheel train ride up the mountain begins just three-quarters of a mile from downtown; I highly recommend it, especially for children.

A walk through Manitou Springs’ abbreviated business district takes one past many buiildings built between 1890 and 1900; a few are completely preserved while others may have their original upper-level facades intact but house very 21st-century art galleries or souvenir shops at street level.

Cave of the Winds, (‘See a mountain from the inside out’) and the preserved Manitou Cliff Dwellings are nearby, as is the spectacular Garden of the Gods. During my walks, I passed many attractive-looking bed-and-breakfasts and small hotels, many occupying what could have been mansions built on mining fortunes. The town’s web site boasts of ‘many fine restaurants’; I had dinner at a one-time stagecoach stop said to have been built in 1881.

Manitou Springs impressed me as a quiet, relaxing place for spending an evening or three.

Quick Tips:

Manitou Springs touring information is ‘on the Web’ at www.manitou@pikes-peak.com. I booked my lodging (see recommendation) through the site.

Best Way To Get Around:

The Garden of the Gods, whose red, fantasy-castle rock formations evoke such names as ‘The Three Graces’, ‘Toad & Toadstools’ and ‘Kissing Camels’, is about a two-mile hike from the nearest bus stop and approximately three miles from Manitou Springs. We’ll provide a photographic tour of the park in another, soon-to-be-published, journal.

In summer, a free shuttle bus circulates through Manitou Springs and includes a stop at the cog railway terminal. After September, alas, it operated only on weekends.

City buses run between Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs once each hour, but not after 6:09 p.m. Saturdays nor at any time Sunday. Fares were .25 regular, .60 senior, with free transfers.

Manitou Springs lies in a small valley studded with steep hills. The uphill walk from the south end of the city to the business district, along Manitou Ave., wasn’t especially difficult for this 64-year old, but the hike to the cog railway proved tiring. Downtown is laid out as an elongated horseshoe; for a walking tour (recommended), go through town clockwise; the worst grades will then be downhill.

The five-mile drive up Colorado Ave. from Colorado Springs to Manitou Springs passes through historic Colorado City, another recommended sightseeing stop.

Though not in Manitou Springs proper, the Garden of the Gods Motel is a good choice for non-drivers because it’s the closest lodging accommodation to have half-hourly bus service to downtown Colorado Springs. (Beyond there, it’s only one bus an hour to Manitou Springs.) This motel is also a bargain: $45 before taxes for a large room with a huge king-size bed and a view of Pike’s Peak, with a heated swimming pool and sauna open to all guests. My second-story room had more than enough space for comfort, and a large two-drawer credenza that could have held enough clothing for two people for at least a week. There was a circular work table with two chairs, a cable-connected TV (only 18") with many channels but less-than-ideal reception. The bed was extremely comfortable, with some of the largest pillows I’ve ever seen. Corner rooms, with windows on two sides, were brighter than mine but not as large. The bathroom was narrow and somewhat cramped, but the toilet was in a separate alcove with a wall between it and the tub and washstand. (No privacy from the front, however.) My only knock about the facilities was the shower; anemic even for a hotel and forcing one to put on his glasses and read the instructions to figure out how to turn it on. The pool was a treasure --- big enough for lap swimming --- and, when other guests went to bed, I could turn out the lights and float on my back in near darkness. Talk about relaxing! (Though, like a person leaving a sauna, I had to walk through the cold outdoors to return to my room.) This may not be the closest lodging to the center of the Garden of the Gods --- it’s at least a 2-1/2 mile walk if you’re on foot --- but since city buses no longer go to the park’s visitor center, it’s o.k. if you truly like hiking. There’s a shorter walk from a bus stop further north on the road to Manitou Springs, but buses run only once an hour. The Garden of the Gods Motel has 32 rooms plus two single-family guest cottages. The only food consists of free Danish pastries and coffee after 8 a.m. For full meals and bar service, there’s a ‘family’ restaurant across the highway. Aside from the pool and sauna, this is basic, no-frills lodging at a VERY favorable price. The motel has a listing at manitou@pikes-peak.com.

I knew the minute I saw the Stagecoach Inn from across the street that I’d probably be having dinner there after my ride up Pike’s Peak. A look at the menu posted in front clinched it: I’d be dining on ‘Slow-Roasted Buffalo’.

The Inn is a rambling, rustic but thoroughly comfortable establishment created from two old buildings. The menu cites ‘credible accounts’ that the log cabin housing the entry parlor and lounge were once the summer home of author and poetess Helen Hunt Jackson. The barn-like structure housing the main dining room was once a water-powered electric generating plant. As you’d expect, old weapons, Native American crafts and other old-West artifacts lined the walls. But once at the table, one found attractive red linen tablecloths and napery, quality silverware, and other accoutrements of fine dining. The reds of the table linens, combined with off-white walls and dark, polished wood beams and furniture, created a relaxing atmosphere for dinner and pre-dinner cocktails.

And then, the menu!

Shall we try ‘Crab Stuffed Rocky Mountain Trout’? Or ‘Campfire Trout dredged in seasoned corn meal and pan fried in Canola oil’? How about ‘Prairie Pie’ --- Chicken stew ‘ringed with Stagecoach mashed potatoes covered with a pie crust and baked’? Meat-fanciers could opt for ‘Pioneer Pie’, a similar dish made with buffalo. House specialties, for VERY SERIOUS meat-lovers, consisted of:

--Santa Fe Steak: ‘Top sirloin smothered with pork green chili sauce and topped with cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses’;

--Sizzling Steak: ‘Top sirloin on a bed of red peppers, mushrooms and onions topped with fried leeks and finished with Burgundy wine’;

--Mountain Man Special: ‘6 oz. Prime Rib, 6 oz. Buffalo and a Buffalo Sausage’!

My ‘Old Fashioned Buffalo Pot Roast’ supposedly consisted of only eight ounces, but I was full before I could finish. A careless diner could have mistaken it for beef stew, but the meat was stringier and moister, nearly black in color, and had a dark, earthy flavor that beef couldn’t duplicate. A nice touch to this otherwise-overfilling meal: Deliciously flavored wild rice instead of the customary potato.

Stagecoach Inn had full bar service with, judging from my own cocktails, a well-experienced bartender. There was a generous wine list, with many more selections offered by the glass than one finds in many restaurants. Cocktail and wine prices were perhaps two-thirds of what I’d have had to pay near downtown Chicago.

I’d planned to return for a second night, but foul weather kept me away. Re-reading the menu after returning home made me regret that I hadn't just said ‘Heck with the weather’ and gone anyway.

Welcome to North America’s highest railroad!

Starting from a terminal about 3/4-mile from dowtown Manitou Springs, the Manitou & Pike’s Peak Railway climbs from 6,280 feet above sea level to 14,100 feet in only nine miles. Based on technology developed to get trains over the Swiss Alps, the cars get their traction from cogwheels engaging saw-toothed rails down the center of the conventional track. They grind their way up grades as steep as 25% --- one foot up for every four forward --- at a steady nine miles per hour. (A safety brake kicks in automatically if the train exceeds this speed; it can stop a 70-ton car in two or three seconds. Since the trains began running under steam power in 1893, there has never been a serious accident.)

Shortly after leaving Manitou Springs, the rails climb through a narrow canyon lined with ‘elephant rock’, an unusual form of porous granite found only here and in the Missouri Ozarks. Then it passes through a different kind of canyon: tall, dark green, and dense pines and firs pressing almost against the tracks. Photography is virtually impossible here unless you’re in a front or rear seat; tight three-and-two seating, commuter-train style, also makes it difficult. For most passengers, it’s a sight to be savored but not photographed except in clearings and above the timberline. White-barked aspen, with yellow-gold leaves glowing in sunlight, add color to the less-densely wooded areas.

Above the timberline, on a sharp curve near the summit and only feet from a precipitous drop, there’s a dramatic view of far-below forests, rock formations, and a blue-watered reservoir --- the lookout point said to have inspired the hymn ‘America the Beautiful’.

The summit is a reasonably flat piece of dirt and gravel about two football fields long and one soccer field wide. There are two buildings: a combination restaurant/souvenir shop/restroom facility and a smaller meeting and exhibit building. Two cars that had each won several Pike’s Peak Auto Races were on outdoor display. The flagstone-walled observation decks were uncomfortably windswept in early October --- at least 25 m.p.h., I’d guess, and likely much stronger. It was a struggle working my camera while keeping my cap from going overboard. The temperature was relatively mild --- probably low 40’s and, away from the wind, easily manageable with a good winter sweater under my light spring jacket. Passengers were allowed 40 minutes on the summit; sufficient for most of us.

Is this the WORLD’S highest railroad? No. There are two lines across the Peruvian Andes in South America that get above 15,000 feet. However, it does top Europe’s highest railroad, the Jungfraujoch cog railway in Switzerland, which peaks at 11,332 feet.

Though I can’t prove it, I believe this is the world’s third-highest railroad.

The round-trip ride costs $24.50 per adult and is well worth it. Enjoy the photos!

Dating to the mid-1800's, Old Colorado City was the first settlement in the Pike’s Peak region of Colorado. Local historiians say it was built upon rumors of gold strikes to be made nearby. There never was much gold found here --- what there was turned up at Cripple Creek on the other side of the mountain --- but the Old City survives as a friendly place for walking past historic old buildings (many more than 100 years old), quality art galleries, and what appeared to be several good restaurants.

It’s also an oasis of quiet in what’s otherwise a sprawl of malls, housing subdivisions and multi-lane trafficways that now engulf the greater Colorado Springs area in all directions except to the northwest along Colorado Avenue. (At last count, the place had grown to some 360,000 people.)

The Old City proper extends roughly between 24th and 27th Streets, but for many of the blocks southeast of there, Colorado Avenue is lined with old, modest, but very attractive single-family homes worth driving or riding by. The best way to savor Old Colorado City is to walk between 24th and 27th, up one side of the street and down the other. If your feet get tired, many of the shops have inviting benches in front. Check out the many restaurants; you may decide to come back for dinner. By all means, browse the many art galleries and craft shops, but don’t buy anything until you’ve also checked out the galleries in Manitou Springs.

Old Colorado City was for many years the home of early generations of the famed Unser auto-racing family; their house, marked with a plaque, is on the east side of Colorado Ave. near 27th St.

Assuming you stop for photographs along the way, a walking tour of Old Colorado City will take a half-hour or so. It will be time well spent. The old courthouse, in a park at 24th St., is a good place to begin.