Spring is a fabulous time to visit one of Colorado’s most special places. Snuggled at the foot of Pikes Peak 10 miles west of Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs has attracted people traveling to and through Colorado since the 1870s. The exquisite scenery, charming architecture and healthful mineral springs enticed travelers soon after the Denver & Rio Grande railroad reached the Pikes Peak region.
General William Jackson Palmer built the D&RG line along the Front Range in 1871 and laid out Colorado Springs the same year, borrowing the name of the springs to the west. His business partner, British investor Dr. William A. Bell, founded Manitou Springs the following year, envisioning a village of villas and landscaped grounds.
Known as the “Saratoga of the West,” Manitou combined summer social ritual with health renewal. Well-to-do travelers arrived by rail for the season, staying the whole summer in one of the turreted and many-gabled inns. Less prosperous visitors lodged at boarding houses or rented sleeping rooms in private homes. Nearly every house possessed a sleeping porch where invalids slumbered outdoors, breathing the curative Colorado air.
The springs of Manitou had special appeal for tuberculosis invalids, patients and other health seekers. The Native Americans had appreciated the therapeutic – and perhaps sacred – properties of the mineral waters, and now the new-found town benefited from the nineteenth-century fad of “taking the waters.” Summer visitors enjoyed strolling from spring to spring to sip from the various health-giving waters.
Quaint gazebos and rustic pavilions marked several of Manitou's mineral springs, charming the Victorian-era visitors. Photo courtesy of Denver Public Library, Western History Collection
Manitou’s tourist sites provided fun and recreation. The first tourists enjoyed riding burros up the mountainsides or took buggy rides to the Garden of the Gods. The Pikes Peak Cog Railway was built in 1890 to take tourists to the summit of the world famous mountain. Cog trains departed twice daily from the quaint, wood-shingled depot at the head of Ruxton Canyon. In 1895, a tiny streetcar line was built up the canyon – the “Dinky Trolley” that whizzed people from Manitou Avenue to the Cog Railway depot, trailheads and a casino that operated briefly in the canyon. The Cave of the Winds offered tours of the sublime limestone caverns.
Manitou’s hospitality tradition continued into the 20th century with several new attractions. The Cliff Dwellings, an accurate replica of the Anasazi ruins in southwestern Colorado, profited from the growing fascination with the native tribes. Two tourist railroads – cable-drawn “funiculars” – opened in Ruxton Canyon. The Mount Manitou Incline, originally constructed to haul pipe up the mountainside for the Colorado Springs water plant, was converted to passenger rides in 1907 and ran through the 1980s. The Red Mountain funicular opened in 1912 and operated for a decade.
A streetcar line ran down West Colorado Avenue by 1905, linking Colorado Springs, Colorado City and Manitou Springs. Visitors toured through the three cities in “Seeing Colorado Springs” streetcars, open sided so passengers could enjoy unobstructed views. By 1920, automobile travel boosted tourism too. Pierce Arrow touring cars met the trains at the Colorado Springs depot, whisking visitors to dozens of attractions and scenic sights around the Pikes Peak region. In 1916, Spencer Penrose built an auto road up the famous peak and staged the annual Pikes Peak Hill Climb to attract racers, racing fans, and tourists.
The town became a stopping point on the coast-to-coast highway passing through Colorado. Auto travel made vacationing more accessible and affordable to middle class families. Cottage camps and auto courts sprang up along West Colorado Avenue and at the edges Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs.
During World War II, Manitou Springs’ residents included military personnel and their families, who rented accommodations in the Victorian-era mansions and hotels that had been subdivided into apartments. After the war, baby boomers came in station wagons on family vacations, drawn by magnificent Pikes Peak and an array of tourist sites and activities. Then, the city experienced a hippie era in the 1960s that helped cultivate today’s creative arts and healing arts milieu.
Manitou Springs became a designated National Register Historic District in the 1980s, and the town developed a historic preservation program to protect its architectural legacy. Today, Manitou remains a vibrant community with a commercial district of handsome brick buildings. Neighborhoods climb the surrounding hillsides, with well-preserved dwellings that range from tiny cottages and quaint cabins to Queen-Anne extravaganzas sprouting turrets, bay windows and bracketed porches.
Several of the original spa hotels have survived. The Cliff House re-opened in 1999 after a massive restoration revived the red-sandstone and wood-shingled structure from a devastating fire. On Manitou Avenue, the Barker House, bristling with turrets and gables, now functions as an apartment residence with a commercial restaurant. Summit Ministries occupies the former Grand View Hotel. The Manitou Springs Bath House, restored during the past decade, contains galleries, shops and the ever-popular Adams Mountain Café beside sparkling Fountain Creek.
Manitou spring rivals all others as Colorado's most picturesque town. Photo by Cathleen Norman
Manitou Springs today has a flourishing art community. The magical setting inspired photographers, painters and poets at the turn of the last century. Today, dozens of artists live and work in Manitou, and their creative products are available in shops, galleries and at the Business of Arts Center.
Manitou Springs is delightful for an afternoon visit or an overnight stay. Lodging accommodations range from plain to fancy, including vintage motels and auto courts, newer national franchises and numerous bed-and-breakfast inns in Victorian-era homes.
There’s plenty to do in Manitou. The recently founded Manitou Heritage Center showcases the town’s interesting past at 517 Manitou Ave. The splendid Miramont Castle off of Ruxton Avenue is open for tours. Most of the 11 historic mineral springs are accessible to the public, restored by the Mineral Springs Foundation. You can browse through the numerous art galleries, boutiques, antique emporia and curio stores. Kids always love the 1930s Manitou Arcade at 924 Manitou Ave. or enjoy playing in the parks beside splashing Fountain Creek.
Manitou has become a city of festivals, ranging from the wacky Fruit Cake Toss and eerie Emma Crawford Coffin Races to the Mardi Gras Carnivale Parade and the Gumbo Cook-off.
