Manitou "Cliff Dwellings"

Okay, so this is the first time that Mark and I have really been disappointed in anything that we have done in Colorado so far.  But boy was this a doozy.  

We have a few Colorado tour guide books and have gone online for "Things to Do in Colorado" and Manitou Cliff Dwellings kept popping up.  So on Easter Sunday, we made a picnic lunch and drove to Colorado Springs to go see them.  

Well, let's just say that this place is AWFUL!  I will let you judge for yourself based on the information taken from their brochure:

          "The Anasazi did not live in the Manitou Springs area, but lived and built their cliff dwellings in the Four Corners area, several hundred miles southwest of Manitou Springs. The Manitou Cliff Dwellings were relocated to their present location in the early 1900s, as a museum, preserve, and tourist attraction. The stones were taken from a collapsed Anasazi site near Cortez in southwest Colorado, shipped by railroad to Manitou Springs, and assembled in their present form as Anasazi-style buildings closely resembling those found in the Four Corners. The project was done with the approval and participation of well-known anthropologist Dr. Edgar Lee Hewett, and Virginia McClurg, founder of the Colorado Cliff Dwelling Association."

SERIOUSLY?!?!  It was just bricks and cement…

We are still figuring out how to use the selfie-stick effectively HA!

Drive right on up to the "authentic" Cliff Dwellings

So after spending about 4.5 minutes "touring" the "ruins" we left and went up the road to the Cave of the Winds.  Being that it was later in the day and that it was a busy Easter Sunday, we didn't take the cave tour but we will be returning for that at another time.  The owners have included zip lines across the canyon and a Ropes Course that jutted out over the edge of the canyon so there are other things to do there as well.  If nothing else, the view there is spectacular to say the least.  

Cave of the Winds 

After we left there we went to the town of Manitou Springs.  It's a very neat little town that is at the foot of Pikes Peak.  During the 1800's the town was incorporated and was advertised to be a "scenic health resort" because of the natural mineral springs that are found there.  (Tourists were told that the Ute Indians had been drinking the spring water for good health for years) There are still lots of businesses that cater to those seeking "healing" from the spring water but there's mostly one-story, adjoining, small shops, restaurants, and pubs, (and a creekside city park ) that line the main street in Manitou.  It looked like it was a very "happening" place but being that it was Easter Sunday, many of the businesses were closed so we will definitely go back and visit it again.