Visit every Pikes Peak attraction in a week? It's possible
Seen it all? Think there’s nothing left to do or see around here? Chelsy Murphy begs to differ.
Last summer, Murphy, the public relations manager for the Colorado Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau, recruited two friends to see, visit and try everything the Pikes Peak region has to offer.
Over the course of five, nonconsecutive days, Murphy and company visited 55 local tourist attractions.
“It was labor intensive, but it was a lot of fun,” Murphy said. “It’s something to ramp up to the spring and summer and it’s a great visual way to show people all the things to do here.”
With the visitors bureau eyeing the start of a new tourism season, Murphy has posted video highlights and itineraries from her “55 in 5” adventure on the CVB’s website and Facebook page, along with a contest to encourage more people to get out and explore the region themselves. Find details on the contest, which includes passes to local attractions and a three-night stay at The Broadmoor, Cheyenne Mountain Resort or the Crowne Plaza hotel, at visitcos.com/55in5.
Murphy said she, CVB marketing specialist Tracy Kocher and Sarah Price, daughter of CVB CEO Doug Price, managed to squeeze everything into five days, albeit spread out over the summer.
“We had to be in the office and actually do some real work,” she said. “They were packed days: Early mornings and late nights.”
The itinerary for Day 1, for instance, included stops at the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel and the Academy’s bomber display, the Western Museum of Mining and Industry, Focus on the Family, the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, the Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum, Glen Eyrie, Rock Ledge Ranch, Garden of the Gods and the Garden of the Gods Trading Post and Flying W Ranch. And that was one of the easy days, since all the stops were near town.
The list of 55 left out a few local highlights that the group just couldn’t squeeze in. And they would have liked more time at the attractions they did visit.
“To really hit all 55 in five is impossible,” Murphy said. “There’s no way to fit it all in — do as much as you can and come back and hit it again.”
Although she’s a native of the Springs, Murphy said she hit plenty of places she had never been to over the five days.
“It was a really good way for me to go almost everywhere and experience it all,” she said.
