Woodland Park, Colorado
- bradleighmartin
- Oct 7, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 9, 2020
A short three day visit up to Woodland Park, Colorado in May 2020. It was the perfect couples getaway in our cozy one bedroom cabin we found on Airbnb!
In May, I decided to book a one-bedroom cabin on Airbnb in Woodland Park, Colorado. I accidentally found this location by looking for cabins online! I was searching for a cabin that would be isolated in the woods. Located 13.6 miles from Manitou Springs and 19 miles from Colorado Springs it was the perfect spot. A quiet town nestled up in the Pike National Forest, minutes from Pikes Peak. My boyfriend and I were excited to take our first trip together and neither of us had ever been to Woodland Park. We drove 8 hours from Canton, Oklahoma and arrived on a Thursday night. We were checking out Sunday morning so we knew we had to make the next two days count by doing everything that we could!
Friday morning we woke up and drove through the city and up to the South Catamount Reservoir at Pikes Peak. The drive took us 45 minutes from our cabin to the reservoir and we ended up paying $5 at the gate as an entry fee. FYI you need to make reservations online to snag a parking spot for either the South or North Catamount Reservoirs, we learned this the hard way the next morning when we attempted to go again. After an hour drive back to our cabin, we learned our Airbnb was located only less than 2 miles from the South Catamount Reservoir if we would have hiked! Oops! The reservoirs were probably my favorite part about the trip. The water was clear and it had a rocky bottom, you could see the rainbow trout swimming through the water. We spent hours here just fishing and relaxing. I even got a gnarly sunburn! We managed to see eagles and a bear! This is a touristy spot, but if you are willing to hike across the rocks or find a path you can find the perfect spot where it is less crowded.
On our way down the mountain, we decided to stop at the Pikes Peak Pickle Shack to see what kind of goodies I could find. I love pickles! I decided to purchase their pickled okra and it was the best-pickled okra I had ever tried, I even drank the juice from the jar!! That night once we drove back into town we decided to stop a the Blue Moose Tavern located in Green Mountain Falls, 5.3 miles from Woodland Park. The Blue Moose Tavern is a dive bar located in this small town and let me tell you the food was amazing! We ordered a pizza and the jalapeno beer macaroni and cheese with elk meat and a couple of drinks. Best.Mac.And.Cheese.EVER. I cannot say enough good things about this bar!! The food was amazing and I would go back!! We found out about this place because of the guest book in our cabin!
Saturday morning I had made reservations, about a month earlier, at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife center located in Divide, Colorado, 10 miles from Woodland Park. I booked the feeding tour which was $25 a person and lasted over an hour. In this tour, you have a tour guide who spends the first half being very informative about the sanctuary and explaining more about the wolves and why they are protected. The second half of the tour was spent watching the tour guide feed all of the wolves. The wolves would come close to the fence to be fed and you were able to take pictures. They do have a meet and greet tours available online to reserve, but they are more expensive. I did plenty of research before I decided which tour to choose. While in Divide we decided to eat at McGinty's Wood Oven Pub. This was an Irish pub with amazing pretzels served with beer cheese sauce. We decided to drive 20 minutes to Manitou Springs to explore the town and get ice cream at the Colorado Custard Company. Yum! I got to pick out a flavor and unlimited toppings! My kind of place! There are plenty of things to do in Manitou Springs. We showed up later at night when everything was closing down. There are plenty of gift shops and restaurants along with the Manitou Springs incline! A tourist attraction that gains 2,000 feet in one mile. It is stairs straight up to the top which is why it attracts so many visitors even the athletes!
Sunday morning on our way out of town we decided to stop at the Garden of the Gods located in Manitou Springs. This free landmark features beautiful sandstone rock formations along with several hiking trails as well as paths to follow to see all of the rocks. We arrived around 9:00 am which I would say is a perfect time because it is a very touristy area and can get crowded quickly. Another option would be to drive through the Garden of the Gods that way you do not have to get out of your car or worry about finding a parking space. We found a long hike to take that took us up high away from the Garden of the Gods and we were able to take really good pictures! There were several people on this trail along with bikers and dogs.
All in all, I would say this was the perfect trip. This is such a family-friendly town with plenty of things to do and see. Woodland Park seems to be located in the center of all towns so it is the perfect spot if you want to get away from busy towns like Colorado Springs. I cannot wait to visit this town again! Below I have listed the links for finding out about Pikes Peak and the parking passes to purchase along with the link to our Airbnb!
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