FREE Things to do During Spring Break (or anytime)

Colorado Springs: The land of… awesome free activities??

There was a time when everyone I knew went someplace during Spring Break with their kids…not so much anymore because it’s so expensive to fly, gas prices are high and/or parents can’t take an entire week off from work. But did you know there’s quite a few places in our area that are absolutely free to visit, don’t require a lot of drive time and can be done in a day? We live in a beautiful area, visitors come here from all over the world so why not take advantage of what’s right in our own backyard (or nearby) and see what our city has to offer….free! (in some cases “donations” are asked for but not required.) *

Tammy’s Tip ‘O the Day!

*There are several more sites I found that were titled “free” things to do here but I wouldn’t call them free because some required memberships or paying for one thing in order to get the other thing free. Not these museums and stuff, these are all totally free.

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY

www.usafa.af.mil/information/visitors/index.asp . 719-333-20250

The Academy is open to visitors daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the Visitor’s Center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m….Visitors to the Air Force Academy must enter through the North Gate, which can be accessed from Exit 156B on Interstate 25, 14 miles north of downtown Colorado Springs.

A “must” you should check out is the Cadet Chapel which happens to be the most popular man-made attraction in the entire state of Colorado. The aluminum, glass and steel structure features 17 spires and soars 159 feet towards the sky. In the Protestant Chapel, there’s a cross constructed of aluminum that’s 46 feet high, 12 feet wide and weighs 1,200 pounds. This section of the Chapel also contains a classical pipe organ with 4,334 pipes (the largest pipe is 32 feet high and the smallest is the size of a pencil). You may also access several overlooks across the Academy which include Honor Court, Arnold Hall, Cadet Field House, Falcon Athletic Center and Stadium and the Visitor Center…..on one of our visits we had three kids, ages 8-14 and they all enjoyed the visit.

EL POMAR CARRIAGE HOUSE MUSEUM

www.visitcos.com/El-pomar-carriage-house . 719-663-7733

The museum is open Mon-Sat 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. It’s located at 10 Lake Circle in Colorado Springs and is adjacent to Broadmoor Hall (at The Broadmoor)

Mr. and Mrs. Penrose Spencer (he built The Broadmoor Hotel in 1918) collected many carriages throughout their lifetime, including 31 horse-drawn carriages and 5 motorized carriages (two being presidential carriages), which can be seen in this brand new 8,500 square foot facility. There’s also some new exhibits which feature authentic Native American artifacts, antique firearms and a collection of vintage riding tack-saddles, harnesses and stirrups.

COLORADO SPRINGS PIONEERS MUSEUM

www.cspm.org . 719-385-5990

The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is located at 215 South Tejon Street.

This is a great visit for any “history buffs” in the family. The museum is the only institution researching, collecting and interpreting the robust history of Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region. Visitors will learn what our community has been, what it is today and what it can be in the future.

U.S. OLYMPIC TRAINING CENTER

www.teamusa.org . 719-866-4618

The training center is located at 1750 E. Boulder and they have guided tours every hour Monday through Saturday. The Visitor Center is open 7 days a week (you don’t HAVE to take the guided tour if you don’t want).  The guided tour begins with a short film depicting past Olympic games followed by a 45 minute walking tour. Most of the tour is outdoors so dress accordingly. And depending on the date and time of your visit, you could see Olympians, Paralympians and hopefuls honing their skills.

GARDEN OF THE GODS PARK & VISITOR CENTER

www.gardenofgods.com . 719-634-6666

Located at 1805 N. 30th (at Gateway Road) this registered National Natural Landmark is open daily from 9 a.m. -5 p.m. (Labor-Memorial Day) and the summer hours are 8 a.m.-8 p.m (Memorial -Labor Day). The most visited attraction in the region, Garden of the Gods is awe-inspiring with dramatic views, towering sandstone rock formations and lots of hands-on-exhibits for the kids to enjoy. If you haven’t visited, or it’s been a long time since you were last here, you should put this on the top of your “to visit” list! Make sure you look for the Balance Rock and Kissing Camels. You can also enjoy lunch or dinner from the glassed-in cafe or the terrace overlooking Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods and shopping at Garden of the Gods Trading Post (be warned though-if you take your children in there they ARE going to want a souvenir! ha!)

ARCADE AMUSEMENTS

930 Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs, CO 80829 . 719-685-9815

While the games and rides aren’t free, you CAN walk through the area and check out all the old pinball machines and games from the 50’s to current times. But even though they aren’t “free”, they are pretty darn cheap! The penny arcade has games from 5 to 10 cents and the younger kids can (for 25 cents) enjoy the small car rides. This is good, cheap fun for the entire family. There’s also games like Guitar Hero, tons of pinball machines, air hockey, skee ball and shooter games. You can plug in arcade amusements, Manitou springs and find tons of websites describing all the cool games and history behind some of them (I don’t play games that much so couldn’t pick out the best!)

 

DR. LESTER L. WILLIAMS FIRE MUSEUM

www.williamsfiremuseum.com . 719-385-5950

Located at 375 Printers Parkway, just south of E Pikes Peak Avenue in the City of Colorado Springs Fire Operations Center and open daily from 8-5.

Dr. Williams was a flight surgeon in the U.S. Army Air Force, awarded the Bronze Star, practiced here in Colorado Springs specializing in urology and in 1953 was named Fire Department Physician…This museum consists largely og his life-long collection of fire memorabilia. Perfect place for the boys (or girls) in your life who are budding fire-fighters!

PETERSON AIR & SPACE MUSEUM

www.petemuseum.org . 719-556-4915

Located on Peterson Air Force Base (150 East Ent Avenue) and open Tuesday-Saturday 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

If you have a military ID, you’re good to go. If not, here’s how you can visit and remember, this is a restricted military base and subject to changes in security levels at anytime. If you want to visit the museum, contact the staff at 719-556-4915 at least 24 hours in advance of your visit (or 72 hours on Saturdays). Before you call you’ll want to have the following information ready-the amount of adults visiting, names, driver license numbers and the state of issue, the date and time you want to visit and the license plate number of the car you’ll be driving in. If an adult doesn’t have a license, their full name, date of birth, and where they were born is needed. Go to their website to check out some of the aircraft and missile displays-kids will love this!

Other free hidden gems…

And don’t forget….Manitou Springs, Old Colorado City and downtown Colorado Springs are fun places to walk around and enjoy the weather.

These are just a few of the places I found but I’m sure there are more. I also didn’t list all the parks, trails and nature centers that are so plentiful in our area. If you have a particular park, trail or place to visit you enjoy and think others would too (and that’s free), please share in the comments!