CeltChic

Cacade is one of my favorites streets to visit downtown. That is where many locally owned and operated shops and eateries are, including Poor Richards, a used book store, pizza shop, and coffee bar, wine bar, and specialty toy shop, a great local place to visit with kids. There is also a gaming store on Cascade, and ample parking. Watch out the park downtown gets very busy at lunch time monday through friday, as the high school students can leave campus for lunch.

Pikes Peak ave is great road to take if you are heading west towards the downtown. The street gets it’s name from the famous mountain that it faces. When you drive west from Academy there is a tall hill that is no problem in clear weather, but is a dangerous trap in icy conditions. Most locals know of this, but every winter, those new to town as residents or visitors do a little sledding in their vehicles. Pikes Peak is nice, as it offers many parking opportunities on the way into the downtown. Try to park before you get to the main streets, everything is within a short walk. The Melting Pot is located underground on pikes peak ave, a block before it dead ends in Cascade ave, where the Antler Adams hotel is situated, all perfectly in line with the peak. look for interesting sculptures both modern and traditional on display all around that intersection.

S. 8th street has a wal-mart and many different shops, and fast food places. If you are travelling west from or east to the highway, it is the last place to stop for gas, west of Interstate 25. Everything is located within a few blocks south of cimarron, or hwy 24. There is a post office over the big hill and past the walmart, but venture too far south and the road becomes residential.

Bijou runs through downtown, and until recently the bijou bridge served traffic east west, but was deemed unsafe, and is no longer open, many older maps or map searches still listed, be aware the bijou street bridge is not there. The part of this street that cuts through downtown has some of my favorite little shops and resturaunts. everyone in town knows about Zeezo’s costume shop, well few know that some parking can almost always be found down there at that end of Bijou, near Cascade. There is a little lot accross from the costume shop, on the corner, for patrons of the shops and eateries on that block.

Academy serves as the main north and south artery in the town. if you are able to take an alternate route do so, but eventually everyone ends up there. In bad weather, it will be cleared before any of the smaller north and south passages, but that will be a tradeoff, if you are looking to avoid crowds. Except for the wee hours, you can almost always expect traffic on academy, but you can find every type of eating and shopping there. For anyone new to the town, this is a must to explore.

Garden of the God’s is a great road to stop off of interstate 25. It is a good spot to get gas or find all sorts of things to eat. If you are trying to get somewhere off of North academy, I have found it to be a great way to beat a little traffic on academy, and catch I 25 N, Garden of the gods is a great cut accross east to academy. Be careful in the construction areas. There is some construction mostly around the union exit. The new stop signs for drivers flowing onto west bound Garden of the Gods from the union on ramp will hopefully make that merge a little safer, although it may take drivers used to the intersection by surprise.

Tejon is the place to go for a pedestrian bar hopping nightlife in colorado springs. Several pubs, bars, and clubs occupy the downtown blocks of Tejon. The park downtown on Tejon is busy during lunch hours during the week, since Lewis Palmer High School students are allowed off campus for lunch. Like most of downtown, the parking on Tejon requires you feed the meters, but only until 6pm. There is a free downtown shuttle if you cannot find a parking space on a busy day or night.

21st street can be followed south from cimarron to get to several area attractions, It is a little known short cut, that locals take, but most visitors go all the way east to the hwy to travel north and south between attractions, when 21st street is a much faster, and more direct route. For those without maps, there are lots of signs along this route to guide travelers to attractions like Seven Falls & Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and the Roy Rogers Shrine of the Sun. 21st street turns into Cresta ave when traveling south, if going north towards Cave of the Winds or the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, follow Cresta N. until it becomes 21st street, this route must be learned by anyone staying at the Broadmore, it is the best way to get to things from the that hotel, besides the highway.

21st street can be followed south from cimarron to get to several area attractions, It is a little known short cut, that locals take, but most visitors go all the way east to the hwy to travel north and south between attractions, when 21st street is a much faster, and more direct route. For those without maps, there are lots of signs along this route to guide travelers to attractions like Seven Falls & Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and the Roy Rogers Shrine of the Sun. 21st street turns into Cresta ave when traveling south, if going north towards Cave of the Winds or the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, follow Cresta N. until it becomes 21st street, this route must be learned by anyone staying at the Broadmore, it is the best way to get to things from the that hotel, besides the highway.

this is a quiet residencial street. . Drive slow, as Kiowa is curvy in places, and is always occupied by pedestrians. on colder, snow days, watch out, it stays icy even when some of the less shaded streets have melted. Even in the best weather conditions, take it slow as there are many stop signs, and the road has a lot of bumps and potholes in places. There are lots of pretty old houses on the street. Some of the old victorian styles ave been painted in bright colors, there are a lot of houses available for rent there.

Colorado is tricky, it changes names. If you are getting directions to follow manitou ave, but your GPS is telling you something different, it’s because Manitou Ave is it’s name in Manitou springs, co. Somewhere, and even most locals don’t know where, Manitou Ave BECOMES Colorado ave, which itself run’s into Pike’s Peak Ave, further east. Colorado Ave is a great one to drive down, like manitou springs, but with more parking and wider streets, colorado ave runs right through Old Colorado City.