Cog Railway Parking — Attraction in Manitou Springs

We had a great time, so worth it. We planned the cog rail the last day we were in Colorado to give us time to accumulate to the elevation of the state before we went higher. Before you get on: go to the bathroom ( no bathroom on train), bring water for everyone, no outside food allowed, bring sunglasses ( sun off snow is bright), bring camera or charged phone. We booked our tickets about 2wks in advance. We did reserve seating so our family would be together. We sat on the side with 3 seats. The seats are fine, you are knee to knee with the other people in ur area so thankfully it was our family. We parked at the cog rail for $20 rather than worrying about a shuttle . You want to drink water as you go up the mountain to help with the elevation. Don't forget your water bottles or till have to buy $10 souvenir water bottles. You are on the train for about an hour on the way up and another hour on the way back. The conductor was very nice and gave great facts about the mountain, cog, animals, etc. You only get 40min at the top ( so elevation won't affect you) If you have someone else with you, I suggest one person go to the bathroom while the other gets line for food ( have to try the famous cinnamon donuts) then u can switch places. Don't forget to take a picture with the elevation sign ( inside the building) upstairs they have a lookout but that's all that's up there. Wear jeans and at least a hoodie/ jacket. We went in May and it was 60 at the ground and 30 at the top. Don't be late to the cog, they give plenty of warnings with the horn and such. (one group missed the train and we left...

Getting to the top of Pikes Peak has been on my bucket list since learning about the history of the spot in regards to the song America the Beautiful in Elementary school. As a Colorado native, I would have thought I would be able to get to this spot a lot sooner than I did. My partner and I ended our anniversary trip with a ride on the Cog Railway. The train is very modern and has recently been updated to be of the highest quality similar to what they use in Europe. Some perks of riding the train as opposed to driving the Pikes Peak highway are: 1. Everyone can enjoy the scenery as no one has to focus on driving, you get to learn some of the history of the mountain, and points of interest are pointed out, 3. The railway is open more than the highway (the day we went, the highway was not open all the way to the top). The only thing I would change is to have more time at the summit. You get about 40 minutes at the top of the summit. I wish that we had more time. As Geocahcers, we wanted to have more time to explore the summit and find all the geocaches up there as well as explore the visitor center and read all the information and exhibits. We did make time to get the famous donuts. They were great! If you are planning on visiting, be sure to bring layers, at the summit, there can be lots of snow and it can be colder than freezing. The temperature difference between Manitou Springs and the top can be a lot. Also, be sure to hydrate. You go up the mountain very quickly and changing elevation that fast can be hard on the body. Hydration is the best way to combat...

They need to be consistent about their parking restrictions. It wasn't clear where the Manitou incline parking was located. We parked in the Cog Railway parking which was 20 feet from the Incline trail. The sign did say no hikers, but when we saw hikers return to the parking lot (and drive off) we figured that it probably meant for overnight hikers or those who stayed pass 4 1/2 hours .You also had to PAY, which we did. When we returned 3 hours later apparently our car was selected as the example since they decided to stick 4 tow signs on every window plus a ticket. I don't want to say they were profiling, but it was clear since the guy at the train ticket counter claimed they had booted and towed cars away and there were clearly cars there who were hiking the Manitou trail and did not have 4 needlessly taped signs on every window (So much for helping the enviroment. One sign would have sufficed and saved needless trash!) If they are so adamant about people parking there they need to at least have signs with fines and maybe offer up some up their parking to hikers. There was zero parking on the way to the trail that didn't have some type of restrictions and the "train parking" was definitely not just occupied by "train riders," which I feel bad for, because the train ride looked like a tourist trap and you had to spend an extra 15 dollars to park. Anyway, they need to solve the parking issue. I shouldn't have parked even after I saw the hikers park there, but I was desperate and I guess the no hiker policy only applies to ...