Despite living in Colorado Springs for nearly five of the last six years, Cave of the Winds was one of the attractions we had on our to-do list that we hadn't managed to do.
When one of the kids' friends from Washington came to visit, I suggested that as a fun outing for them to try. After looking at the website, the kids settled on one of the Lantern Tours, an hour and a half long tour of Manitou Caverns with just the light of a kerosene lantern.
We signed up for an early bird tour, so we had plenty of time for other things that day too and headed up to Manitou. I was very impressed that the guides explained the options carefully, including the amount of waking and crouching, so that tour members had the option to swap to an easier tour. We were all good with a few hundred feet of walking bent over so we stuck with our longer Lantern Tour.
Our guide did an awesome job, sharing the folklore, ghost stories, unexplained phenomena, and background history of Cave of the Winds, and we really enjoyed our hike through the caves. Many of the formations are still in good condition and our guide pointed out how it was still a living cave. The kids were really fascinated with the room that was used as a party room within the caves too, as well as many of the stories of the cave itself.
We also took a bit of time to enjoy some of the other activities and displays at the park, along with the gorgeous views. Ben and our guest really liked the Stalactykes Adventure Slide and the Caver's Challenge. I also enjoyed the reading about the caves, although that was a bit less popular with the kids. We did not have the time budgeted for some of the larger activities, but I did promise Ben we would try them at some other point.
The kids are already plotting to go back. They'd like to take their grandparents on one of the other tours on their next visit to Colorado, likely the Discovery Tour as it heads into a different part of the cave system that we haven't seen yet. I'm looking forward to trying it too!
When one of the kids' friends from Washington came to visit, I suggested that as a fun outing for them to try. After looking at the website, the kids settled on one of the Lantern Tours, an hour and a half long tour of Manitou Caverns with just the light of a kerosene lantern.
We signed up for an early bird tour, so we had plenty of time for other things that day too and headed up to Manitou. I was very impressed that the guides explained the options carefully, including the amount of waking and crouching, so that tour members had the option to swap to an easier tour. We were all good with a few hundred feet of walking bent over so we stuck with our longer Lantern Tour.
Our guide did an awesome job, sharing the folklore, ghost stories, unexplained phenomena, and background history of Cave of the Winds, and we really enjoyed our hike through the caves. Many of the formations are still in good condition and our guide pointed out how it was still a living cave. The kids were really fascinated with the room that was used as a party room within the caves too, as well as many of the stories of the cave itself.
We also took a bit of time to enjoy some of the other activities and displays at the park, along with the gorgeous views. Ben and our guest really liked the Stalactykes Adventure Slide and the Caver's Challenge. I also enjoyed the reading about the caves, although that was a bit less popular with the kids. We did not have the time budgeted for some of the larger activities, but I did promise Ben we would try them at some other point.
The kids are already plotting to go back. They'd like to take their grandparents on one of the other tours on their next visit to Colorado, likely the Discovery Tour as it heads into a different part of the cave system that we haven't seen yet. I'm looking forward to trying it too!
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