2019 Colorado Adventure – Manitou Springs

Another great place to visit in Colorado is Manitou Springs! It is near Colorado Springs and so worth the time to go there. That second jeep tour from the tour post was in the afternoon, so I drove to Manitou Springs that morning to check it out. It is a wonderful little cowboy town that I spent some time wandering around and then there is the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, which were totally amazing!!!

I started out with breakfast at Adam’s Mountain Cafe in Manitou Springs – great choice!

Finally a deliciously healthy option……it was so good – the fruit was perfectly ripe and the eggs were fluffy and the multi-grain toast had the best flavor!

It also happened to be the first meal I completely finished!!! LOL (no, I didn’t leave the toast – I ate it with that homemade jam in the little cup)

I made it to downtown Manitou Springs and parked so I could walk around!

Such a pretty town with a mix of history and quaint shops and quirkiness with a beautiful mountain backdrop!

and, some restoration projects……

The town is famous for its healing springs…..like this one that is available for the public to benefit from

I left the downtown area to head towards the Cliff Dwellings and missed a turn……it put me on the famous Ute Pass, which is a winding road through the pass with NO exits……I had to just drive until I got to the end and could get turned around and drive back through it! LOL But, I’m glad I did cause it was STUNNING!!!!

Finally made it to the Cliff Dwellings……the first thing I saw was this tee pee exhibit

This is the Visitor’s Center, museum, and gift shop — I found some incredible gifts (and some things for myself) in the gift shop!

These dwellings are original and authentic, but were not originally located in Manitou Springs – they were constructed and used in the Four Corners area (the spot where Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona meet). There was a risk of them being ruined because they were not being preserved. A group decided to move them where they could be preserved and made available to the public as an educational tool to showcase the heritage. The dwellings are comprised of Anasazi Ruins and were carefully disassembled, moved, and reassembled in their current location embedded into the cliff as it would have been originally – this took several years beginning in 1904 and completed in 1907, when it was opened to the public. It is a 40-room site that provided living space for several families of Anasazi Indians. The word Anasazi comes from the Navajo and loosely translates to mean “enemy ancestors”. They were believed to inhabit the Four Corners region about the time that Christ was born.

Each section would be the home of a family of Anasazi — family would include extended family, as well

This describes just one of the family structures within the complex – one of the ones seen in the close-up above

The museum complex

This structure is for the purpose of grinding corn and other food preparation. There were multiple school tours going on while I was there and they were allowing small groups of children to go in and grind corn and do other tasks.

It was fascinating to see this……I’m so glad I put it on my list of things to do / see in Colorado! What a treat!

I purchased this cross and the dream catcher on the right from the Cliff Dwellings gift shop (the white one I already had) and hung them over my bed! Love them!!!

There was beauty everywhere you looked in Colorado…….and so different from place to place!