Southern Front Range

Most visitors to southeast Colorado don't venture much further than the neighboring population centers of Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs, which snuggle up to the foothills of the vast Southern Front Range. With gorgeous vistas and parks galore, each has an eclectic mix of galleries and museums and a wealth of family-friendly attractions that are activity-based, fun and informative. Throw in a vibrant dining and craft-brewery scene and there's no shortage of ways to keep occupied.

Those who do venture off the beaten track into the mountains will be rewarded with expansive wilderness, endless skies and relics of days gone by. Adventurers will want to head to Cañon City to ride the rapids of the dramatic Royal Gorge or kit up their packs to explore the area's hundreds of miles of pine-shaded or open-range walking trails.

Explore Southern Front Range

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Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Southern Front Range.

  • Park

    Garden of the Gods

    This gorgeous vein of red sandstone (about 290 million years old) appears elsewhere along Colorado's Front Range, but the exquisitely thin cathedral…

  • Mountain

    Pikes Peak

    Pikes Peak (14,110ft) may not be the tallest of Colorado's 54 fourteeners, but it's certainly the most famous. The Ute originally called it the Mountain…

  • Bridge

    Royal Gorge Bridge & Park

    In 1929 this 1260ft-long suspension bridge was built across the 950ft-deep Royal Gorge, which stretches for 10 miles west of Cañon City. The bridge and…

  • Museum

    Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience

    More than three years in gestation, this dinosaur of an experience hatched in 2016 and comes highly recommended for fans of the Jurassic period and anyone…

  • Cave

    Cave of the Winds

    Set on the rim of a craggy canyon is this developed cavern concessionaire. You’ll forgive the cheesy entry and elevator music because here are the…

  • Zoo

    Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

    High up on Cheyenne Mountain, the largest private zoo in the country was launched with holdovers from the private animal collection of Spencer Penrose …

  • Archaeological Site

    Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

    In 1873 Dr AC Peale, as part of the USGS Hayden expedition, was on his way to survey and map the South Park area, when he reputedly discovered these…

  • Museum

    Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Center

    This fun dinosaur center is located in Woodland Park, 14 miles west of Manitou Springs. The kids won’t want to miss this private museum owned by working…

  • Park

    Red Rock Canyon Open Space

    A former quarry and part of the sandstone vein that runs through the Garden of the Gods, this 787-acre park was nearly developed into a golf course and…

  • Museum

    Outlaws & Lawmen Jail Museum

    This museum is set in the old Teller County Jail, which rather remarkably operated from 1901 all the way until 1992 when the ACLU filed the lawsuit that…

  • Archaeological Site

    Manitou Cliff Dwellings

    This set of Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings was carved into the red-rock hills just east of Manitou Springs off Hwy 24. You’ll see the adobe facades…

  • School

    US Air Force Academy

    A visit to this campus, one of the highest-profile military academies in the country, offers a limited but nonetheless fascinating look into the lives of…

  • Museum

    Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum

    Colorado Springs’ municipal museum is set in the old El Paso County Courthouse, built in 1903. The collection and exhibition of some 60,000 pieces sums up…

  • Park

    Austin Bluffs Open Space

    This beautiful reserve overlooking Colorado Springs and the Rockies beyond is strewn with distinctive rock formations dating to the Eocene period. Walking…

  • Museum

    Museum of Colorado Prisons

    Set in the original women's prison, right outside the stone walls of the territorial prison, each of the 30 cells is decked out with a different exhibit…

  • Archaeological Site

    Garden Park Fossil Area

    The second-largest Jurassic graveyards in Colorado, and still one of the largest in North America, these are one of the quarries that spawned the Bone…

  • Monument

    Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun

    Set behind the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and those massive crenelated stone gates, on a cliff about two-thirds of the way up Cheyenne Mountain, is this tower…

  • Museum

    Cripple Creek District Museum

    Set in an old midland train station terminal is the city's official museum. Between 1896 and 1949 the train came up from the divide four times daily. The…

  • Historic Site

    Prospect Heights

    When United Artists were making John Wayne Westerns in Cañon City, this is where they lived and worked. A turn-of-the-20th-century Colorado Fuel & Iron…

Top experiences

Whether it’s a guided tour of a historic landmark, private tasting of local delicacies, or an off-road adventure — explore the best experiences in Southern Front Range.

  • Activities