Pikes Peak Tours and Tickets

There are different ways to experience Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs. Looking at ratings and reviews previously given by customers, these are the best options available right now:

• Small-Group Tour of Pikes Peak and the Garden of the Gods From Denver

• Pikes Peak Jeep Tour

• Private Pikes Peak Country and Garden of the Gods Tour From Denver

• Pikes Peak Cog Railway and Garden of Gods Tour

• Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods Jeep Tour

Pikes Peak summit admission starts at US$18 for adults, US$8 for children aged 6–15, or $65 per car (including up to five passengers). There’s a timed-entry permit for summer visitors of US$2. The summit drive is certainly scenic but also full of switchbacks and steep cliffs. If you prefer a less stressful drive, consider a guided excursion: half-day trips start around US$100.

Yes, the vistas from Pikes Peak's 14,000-foot (4,267-meter) summit make the effort of getting there very much worthwhile. Yet for many visitors, the "getting there" is as much a draw as the summit destination itself, with the picturesque Pike Peaks Highway and a historic cogwheel train ride among the journey options.

Per one customer who booked the Pikes Peak Jeep Tour, "Kevin was a great guide and driver. He knew so much about the area and could easily share with us. I tend toward motion sickness and with Kevin's driving, it wasn't a problem at all. We're glad we took a tour and didn't drive ourselves because one of us would have had our eyes glued to the road and we wouldn't have learned as much as we did."

If you're driving the scenic drive to the top of Pikes Peak, allow about four hours for an unhurried visit. When taking the Pikes Peak Cog Railway up, you need roughly three hours. Hiking up Pikes Peak takes much longer, and most hikers allow two days to tackle this fourteener.

High Point Overlook in the Garden of the Gods is the best for Pikes Peak views. You can also see the mountain from the park's trails. Colorado Springs is the easiest urban place to take a gander at Pikes Peak, as its peak is visible from much of the city.

Yes, there is a free shuttle that takes visitors up to the top of Pikes Peak. The shuttle collects visitors from two parking lots, at mile markers 7 and 16. It operates due to limited parking spaces at the summit—the result of construction for a new visitor complex.

Manitou Springs is the closest town to Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods. It is west of Colorado Springs. It provides easy access to these popular attractions and offers mineral springs that you can drink and spas where you can recharge after a day in the mountains.

Yes, you can go to both Gardens of the Gods and Pikes Peak in one day as the two attractions are not far from one another near Manitou Springs. Tours that visit both in one day allow you to combine the attractions without worrying about the logistics or timing.

Pikes Peak is the most famous of Colorado's mountains and is often called America's Mountain as it has been seen to perfectly represent the scenery of the American West. It also has the world's highest cog railway and for inspiring lyrics to “America the Beautiful” by Katharine Lee Bates.

When you're done at Pikes Peak, Colorado has a ton of fun things to do. Per other travelers, here are some of the top attractions and neighborhoods to visit:

• Garden of the Gods

• Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre

• Larimer Square

• Arkansas River

• Lookout Mountain

View Viator's guide to all the attractions in Colorado.