Day Trips in Colorado

Things to visit in Colorado

Day Trips allow guests at Blue Skies Inn to take advantage of our central Colorado location to experience every type of terrain and ecosystem our state has to offer. The innkeepers Sally and Mike can help you plan day trips where you will drive through prairie grasslands, high desert, cedar-forested canyons, ghost towns and alpine meadows, and yet still be in the comfort of your suite before dusk.

Listed below you'll find suggested trips - a popular and famous Colorado attraction and two other must-see sights enthusiastically recommended by the innkeepers. Or throw out the map and stumble onto a geologic wonder, a meandering river or a Rocky Mountain vista to fill your camera’s memory card — some of the best attractions in Colorado are our natural lands.

Wherever your Colorado vacation finds you, you’ll find yourself amid amazing scenery and world-class attractions.

Day Trips in Rocky Mountain and Colorado

Royal Gorge

Fifty miles away along good highways, Royal Gorge is spanned by the highest suspension bridge in the country. There is a cog railroad to the bottom of the gorge. Many people bungee jump from this fabled bridge. For those looking to make a day of it, we recommend the train ride along the bottom of the gorge on the same Denver and Rio Grande Railway "Rocket" that Sally rode as a child. The Royal Gorge Route follows the most famous portion of the old Denver & Rio Grande Western train line, 24 miles round-trip, from Cañon City to Parkdale and back.
The two hour train ride takes passengers through the "Grand Canyon of the Arkansas River." It's an unforgettable journey under the famous Hanging Bridge, which clings precariously to the steep granite walls of the Royal Gorge, towering over 1,000 feet above.

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Bishops Castle

This wonderful castle, the product of Jim Bishop's thirty-year effort, is located north of the little town of San Isabel, about an hour and a half drive from Blue Skies Inn. The Castle is open during daylight hours. It's a construction site, and the owner makes no effort to obstruct visitors from inspecting every aspect of the castle from tower to dungeon.
Bishop Castle can be a part of a day trip that includes the San Isabel National Forest, magnificent vistas of the Sangre de Christo Mountains and a bumpy ride along the old Phantom Canyon railroad bed into Victor and Cripple Creek. From there you can either take the Old Stagecoach Road back into Colorado Springs, or opt for the paved highway from Cripple Creek to Manitou Springs.

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Great Sand Dunes National Monument

Sixteeen square miles of 800' sand dunes surrounded by the fourteen thousand foot peaks of the Sangre de Christo Mountains await patient travelers. Dune-climbing is allowed, and there are many picnic areas close to the dunes. A modern Visitors' Center illuminates the geology of this Colorado wonder.
A visit to this best and strangest Colorado landscape involves a three-hour trip south from Blue Skies Inn along good and scenic highways to the historic San Luis Valley. Take the great circle route, with an outbound side-trip to Bishop Castle, and return through some of Colorado's most scenic countryside.

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