Manitou Springs Is the Stars Hollow of Colorado

This installation of Travel Westword is presented by Visit Manitou Springs.

There is much debate in my friend group texts as to what the equivalent of Stars Hollow might be in Colorado. 

If you aren’t a Gilmore Girls addict who watches the complete series annually (and aren’t currently on season two, episode sixteen), then let me fill you in: Stars Hollow is the fictional town where the show is set. It makes you believe in the existence of a magical place that offers a walkable community and affordable-ish housing, complete with a library, multiple locally-owned restaurants, a cozy inn in which you can run as your career, and a diner home to the best coffee in town served by a grumpy owner who builds you a chuppah and with whom you fall in love. 

I’m here to say that Manitou Springs comes closest to this comparison, at least from the destinations I’ve visited so far in Colorado. 

You might know Manitou Springs as home to the Manitou Incline, which welcomes approximately 250,000 climbers annually. In the 24 hours our social media editor and I spent in this corner of the Pikes Peak Region, we listened to ghost stories in a castle built in 1895, were driven around town in a golf cart by a charismatic local guide (very Stars Hollow), and met business owners, brewers and baristas who made us laugh.

With every stop and every greeting, my soul grew a little warmer and the light of the world felt a little brighter. 

As our golf cart cruised over the hilly landscape at 6,412 feet of elevation, passing by the Cog Railway (the longest and highest cog railroad in the United States) and the incline trailhead, I soaked in the beauty around me and thought: The world would be a better place if we slowed down more, laughed more, and allowed community to warm our souls more. 

As autumn winds down and the twinkle-light-filled winter season settles in, here is our perfect soul-warming itinerary for your trip — just one and a half hours south of Denver — to Manitou Springs. 

Breakfast and Lattes at Adam’s Mountain Cafe

After driving into town on Manitou Avenue, we kicked off our stay with tea, pumpkin spice lattes and a locally sourced brunch at Adam’s Mountain Cafe. Nestled along Fountain Creek and with Pikes Peak looming in the distance, the cafe is surrounded by stunning scenery. Inside, it was rustic and charming.

Adam’s opened in 1985 and prides itself on being sustainable in various ways, including the production of housemade chai, syrups and sauces. The dining room is filled with antique tables, some with drawers where guests leave handwritten notes. “Some are sweet. Some are strange. All of them are part of the story,” the cafe’s website says. “You’re welcome to read a few…or leave one behind.”

Menu items we recommend: Breakfast Potatoes (potatoes, cheese, and your choice of sauce: sherry cream sauce, vegan red chili, or vegan green chili; add the two eggs and the turkey sausage) and the Breakfast Sandwich (scrambled egg, sausage, cheddar, tomato, jalapeños on a brioche bun with grilled potatoes). 

Sip Water on the Self-Guided Mineral Springs Tour

Manitou Springs is home to eight cold-water mineral drinking springs. Most visitors will do the self-guided mineral springs tour. We were fortunate to be given a tour by local legends Annie Schmitt and Doug Edmundson.

Each of these springs are historic landmarks and were restored or developed by the Mineral Springs Foundation in collaboration with the City of Manitou Springs and private landowners. To my surprise, the water tasted drastically different at each spot: Some tasted like seltzer water, some like I’d bitten my lip with iron-rich mineral water.  

When embarking on this tour — which also doubles as a walking tour of downtown — your first stop should be the Manitou Springs Visitors Center (354 Manitou Avenue), to buy a souvenir collapsible cup. The cups also support the Mineral Springs Foundation in its effort to keep the mineral springs running 24/7 and free to the public.

Love Adrenaline? Meet Cave of the Winds 

Just a short drive from downtown, up and around hairpin turns, sits Cave of the Winds, which is open every day but Christmas.

There are two rides at the attraction that will have you rethinking all of your life choices: Terror-Dactyl and Bat-A-Pult. 

Both are terrifying. Both are fast. Both are two-person rides. You walk through cages to enter them, like a scene from Jurassic Park. You get weighed and strapped in, and the staff taunts you endlessly. 

Terror-Dactyl is a 100-mile-per-hour, 180-foot free fall into a canyon. 

I’ll pause here to let you read the previous line one more time. 

Trip Uhault, marketing and public relations manager at Cave of the Winds, has taken this ride 212 times. “We offer an experience you won’t find anywhere else,” he says.

I chose sanity and opted to skip the ride. Westword social media editor Katrina Leibee, who is now making a habit of doing terrifying things in the mountains that I cannot do (she also completed the via ferrata at Arapaho Basin), chose insanity. 

Bat-A-Pult is a 1,200-foot zip line that sends you soaring through the air at 30 miles per hour. If you were one of the 829K viewers who saw my TikTok or one of the 809K viewers who saw my Instagram Reel, then you have seen my experience on this ride.

After all that drama and adrenaline, it was the perfect time to end our Cave of the Winds visit with a walk through one of North America’s most haunted caves. The half-mile-long cave tour was fantastic, with well-informed and entertaining guides. At 7,000 feet of elevation, this is the second-highest commercial cave in the country, topped only by Glenwood Caverns in Glenwood Springs at 7,100 feet.

Dinner and a Pint at The Keg Lounge

In a building built in 1900, The Keg Lounge lives up to its self-described unpretentious atmosphere. It was bought in 1986 by Mike and Terry Milar. We enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere and hearty menu choices after an adventurous day. 

Menu items we recommend: the Philly (thin-sliced chicken or steak with grilled onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and Swiss cheese) and the Patty Melt (Ranch Foods Direct burger patty, Swiss cheese and sautéed onions, served on rye).

Sip Wine by the Fire at Keithley Pines Historic Cabins

Approaching the Blue Spruce Cabin at Keithley Pines Historic Cabins, just a few minutes from downtown Manitou Springs, we knew we were in for a magical retreat. The Keithley family lives on site, so we felt safe and assured that our needs would be taken care of.

Our cabin, with a view of the Manitou Incline behind it, consists of two bedrooms, a dining area, a kitchen, a lounge room with a piano, both a front patio and a back porch, and a living room complete with a wood-burning fireplace. Katrina and I got in our mountain-cozy pajamas, opened our complimentary bottle of white wine, started a fire and talked about journalism in 2025. (I swear, I’m a great boss.)

The next morning, as we packed up the car, a doe and her baby casually strolled through the front yard, creating an even more picturesque scene. This is the ideal mountain cabin for those seeking a charming and understated stay.

Coffee and Bagels at The Loft Espresso 

Katie and Justin Snyder moved from Ohio to Manitou Springs a decade ago. The Loft Espresso is their COVID project. Since 2020, the coffee and bagel shop has gone from an 800-square-foot spot with three employees to the current 3,000-square-foot space with fifteen employees. 

Everything on the menu is made in-house, but the bagels are what The Loft is known for. “We never intended to be a bagel shop,” says Justin, who, without a background in baking, created the bagel recipe and works on it daily. “It fell into our lap that the community needed food and we could take it on.”

“The people keep us going,” he adds. “We’re so proud of how far it’s come in a short time. We love the community we cultivated, and the staff is incredible.”

While the coffee (with beans sourced from Brandywine Coffee Roasters) and bagels are both delicious and worth the stop alone, there’s also the bonus of experiencing the Story Booth interactive art piece located toward the back of the shop.

The booth was found on Facebook Marketplace. Justin shared the idea of a storytelling booth with local artist Audrey Gray, who ran the CRANE Foundation (Creative Alliance Manitou Springs), and she brought the vision to life. Consume the art inside the booth and pick up the phone to hear more than twenty stories relating to Manitou Springs. 

Tour the Town: Manitou E-Bike and Golf Cart Tour

Father and son Greg and Sam Cobble are in their fifth year of owning the Manitou E-Bike Company. After visiting a friend in Seattle who started Rad Power Bikes, Greg decided to purchase a fleet and rent them out. “Everyone came back from their ride so enthusiastic, asking where to buy one,” he recalls. 

Manitou E-Bike Co. is the largest exclusive e-bike retailer in the Colorado Springs area. The shop sells, rents and services e-bikes and offers e-bike lessons. The most popular ride is the seven-minute journey to Garden of the Gods. 

New this year, the business now offers historic electric golf cart tours. Greg said he saw another need for those who aren’t ready for an e-bike ride. 

Cart driver David McBride moved to Manitou Springs from Dallas with a background in tourism and concierge services. He has one prerequisite for those on his tours: You have to have fun. 

“I get to meet people from all over the world,” he says. “I get to share what I consider to be one of the most amazing Hallmark towns in America. It’s not a job — I just be rollin’. That’s my philosophy. I’m just out here living my best life and having a blast.”

My email is open for your suggestions of other Colorado destinations that have Stars Hollow appeal: chelsey.dequaine@voicemediagroup.com.