Pikes Peak By Rail — Local services in Manitou Springs

Pikes Peak By Rail - A Memorable Visit with Room for Improvement

Our visit to Pikes Peak was a mix of awe-inspiring moments and some missed opportunities. First, I want to commend the seamless booking process. From confirmation emails to updates and reminders, everything was handled efficiently. The staff went above and beyond to accommodate our large family of 17 traveling from Atlanta, even allowing our sprinter van despite website policies restricting oversized vehicles. For this, we are truly grateful—5 stars for the initial experience!

The train ride to the summit was nothing short of magical. The views were breathtaking, leaving us speechless as we ascended to over 14,000 feet above sea level. Our conductor was fantastic, keeping everything on time and ensuring a smooth experience. Another 5 stars for the ride itself!

However, the Summit Center fell short of expectations. While the rail station clearly displayed information about altitude changes, the center did not seem prepared to address the needs of visitors unfamiliar with or unaccustomed to such significant changes. This can be especially critical for those with health conditions.

What stood out most was the poor customer service and lack of food availability at the Summit Center. At around 2:35 PM, the hot food boxes were empty, and the doughnuts—one of the signature items—tasted stale. The explanation provided, “Oh, our kitchen closes at 3:00 PM,” was disappointing. It felt unacceptable for a major attraction that charges nearly $100 per person to be so unprepared, especially given the volume of visitors contributing to the attraction’s success.

Altitude can already be overwhelming, and something as simple as ensuring a reliable food supply could make a big difference in how visitors experience the summit. It would help guests feel cared for and safe, especially when dealing with potential altitude-related symptoms.

Overall, while the train ride and scenery deserve 5 stars, the Summit Center’s lack of preparedness left us feeling let down. I hope this feedback helps improve operations and ensures future visitors have a consistently stellar experience from...

My mom and I were visiting from East Tennessee a couple weeks ago and decided to purchase tickets for the Incline Railway. It was an incredible experience, and our tour guides/ speakers Jim and Joey made it extra memorable. The views were great but you may want to sit on the left side of the train for the best views. Once you get to the top, you have only an hour to purchase your donuts, visit the gift shop, and the history room. Unfortunately the line for the donuts was extremely long so we weren’t able to buy anything from the gift shop (that line was insane too) or visit the history room. I will say the infamous donuts were a bit stale but it’s okay it’s for the mems. The building seemed very understaffed, and potentially if they had more employees you may be able to have time for all 3 experiences, but I believe it’s managed by the city, and not the Cog Railway company. Make sure you get back to the train in time though or you will be left behind. But your train tour guides will say this many times. Overall great experience, wish we had more time at the top but from my understanding, an hour is the safest amount of time for all passengers. Jim was fantastic and we loved listening to him talk. Worth the price...

The views were great and we really loved the trip… the only problem we had was our train had to wait on 3 others to pass (two passenger and an employee train) so we only got about 35 minutes at the top and we wanted to get pictures and donuts (which honestly were just super dense and not great.. we were also I think the last train at 240, and they had pretty much no food in the food area either) and we felt VERY VERY RUSHED! We were pretty much running to see what we wanted to see (which was a struggle honestly at that altitude). We were very upset we didn’t get the full hour to explore. However the train ride is beautiful and the views were so pretty, it was just so rushed we didn’t get to enjoy ourselves much. I will say the conducted (Owen) was very knowledgeable and gave great descriptions on everything on the way up! We booked 6 standard tickets and we were pretty much all together which was nice. You also do not switch sides so on the way up and down you see the same...