Top Tips For Driving Colorado’s Skyline Drive!

When I was young and still in early elementary school, my family traveled with my Uncle’s family to Colorado.  (Little did I know that I would be living there one day!) Honestly, I don’t remember a whole lot from the trip (youth really is wasted on the young isn’t it??), but I do remember everyone’s reaction to driving on Skyline Drive!

Note, I said I remember everyone’s reaction…I didn’t even know we had done it until we were looking at souvenirs saying, “I Survived Skyline Drive!”  I asked my mom what that was and she told me we had just done it.  Insert face slap emoji.

Regardless of my amazing and somewhat scary lack of observation about my surroundings, I never forgot Skyline Drive. (Ironic, considering I didn’t actually see it!!)  When I moved back to Colorado a couple of years ago, I made sure to revisit this place from my youth and actually experience it!  I’ve done it several times since then and feel that it’s past time I wrote a post about it!

Skyline Drive actually has an interesting history!  It was constructed by inmates for the sole purpose of giving the people an amazing view of the city and valley.  Convicts were given ten days off their sentence for every month they worked on the road. (If it were me I would have convinced everyone to work as slow as molasses so we could drag this thing out for as many months as we could!)

The road is a one-way road that travels across a razor’s edge of a hilltop! At 2.6 miles long, it’s not for the faint of heart or for those who have trouble with heights! I definitely had trouble when we drove up Pikes Peak – and I wasn’t even driving, mind you – but I didn’t have any issues driving or being driven on Skyline Drive.  It’s one of my favorite places to take visiting family members and friends since it’s an easy distance from Colorado Springs!

(Click here to see my other posts on things to do in Colorado Springs!)

Directions: Follow HWY 50 west out of Canon City toward the Royal Gorge.  A few miles past Canon City you’ll start to see signs for Skyline Drive on your right.  Follow the road under the stone arch (pictured a couple of pictures above).  The road will deposit you back into Canon City close to Main St.

Tips:

• This is a free tourist attraction and doesn’t take a whole lot of time away from your stop here…so there’s really no excuse not to see it!
• This road is not suitable for RV’s or trailers.  It’s a one-way paved road with a small handful of pull-off areas to enjoy the surrounding views!
• As I mentioned before, I didn’t have a problem with driving this road, but some people do! Be prepared for this so that you don’t have a panic attack at the top!
• Supposedly there are dinosaur tracks somewhere along this road! I’ve been here a few times, and have even gotten out of my car at the top and walked around, but I haven’t seen them.  Never fear, I will return, find them, take pictures, and then make sure I let you know where they are!!
• I highly recommend stopping at the top and taking a walk up the trail to the rocky ridge of the hilltop (pictured below to the right).  You will pass a couple of turnouts before you get to a wider area that has turnouts on either side.  This is where you want to stop and backtrack for some amazing views!
• There is a network of trails on this hillside as you will see if you stop at the top.  I have never spent time hiking here, but it seems like an interesting place to explore if you are in the area!
• This makes a great spot in Canon City to watch the sunset.
• Make sure you stop to eat at Pizza Madness on Main Street – it’s my favorite place to eat in all of Canon City!

Make sure you take time to hike around the top!

We always like to walk to the top of the rocky ridge!

Bird’s eye view of the whole drive!

The drive isn’t for the faint of heart…but the walk to the top of the ridge probably isn’t either! I’d definitely be careful about letting kids wander by themselves.

Canon City is on the left, HWY 50 is on the right!

After you pass the area that has turnouts on either side there won’t be any other spots to stop so get your fill before continuing on!

Once you’ve driven the length of the hilltop the road will start to descend down to the Canon City side of the hilltop, depositing you near the Prison Museum and Main Street.  The bottom has a parking area for those of you that may want to park and walk part of the trail system!

This is a fun drive that I highly recommend if you are in Canon City! I hope this helped you plan your itinerary to the area!

Don’t forget to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Until next time!