Manitou Springs Accomodations

Double your pleasure

Bikes, cars and pedestrians don't always mix. Thus it's no great wonder that the city has tried to solve the problem of West Colorado Avenue's popularity.

What is surprising, however, is that the city has offered up two solutions to the problem. And both will become reality at virtually the same time.

You likely have heard of the " sharrow " markers soon to be added on Colorado and Pikes Peak avenues, between Hancock Avenue and 31st Street. Different from striped bike lanes, which are for bike use only, sharrow markers remind drivers to expect and yield to cyclists in the shared-use lane.

State law already allows cyclists to use the outside lane of a road, meaning sharrows clarify current standards. The sharrows on Colorado and Pikes Peak are being paid for with private money being raised by City Councilor Tim Leigh , himself a cyclist, and the city is footing the bill for the labor. They're scheduled to be done by mid-June.

The other soon-to-come fix has been in the works for a decade: the Midland Trail, a chunk of which already runs between Colorado Avenue and U.S. Highway 24 from America the Beautiful Park to 21st Street. Another chunk runs through Manitou Springs along Fountain Creek. After years of obtaining easements and funds, the parks department is building the in-between chunk, and hopes to finish in October.

All of which begs the obvious question: Does the city really need two solutions for one problem?

A big problem

The woes of Colorado Avenue are especially evident along a western stretch that wears its neglect like a badge of honor.

"No Man's Land," as this pot-holed stretch is often called, is the area where the state's property meets the county's property between the Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs city limits. There's no shoulder. No sidewalks. Certainly no trail. The road winds sharply over a bridge in serious need of repair.

Not squarely under the control of any one master (though local governments are seeking funding that could eventually improve the stretch) the area feels somewhat lawless, despite police cars and fire trucks frequenting the rundown motels that are home to largely impoverished tenants.

Some examples of what you might witness on a typical day along this stretch: the poor using their bikes to haphazardly haul grocery bags back to their rooms; drunks walking unsteadily to friends' homes; athletes speeding by on road bikes; people with disabilities struggling unsteadily on the chipped pavement; and hipsters on cruisers making their way home from the bars at night, sans lights.

Search in Colorado Springs lodging Finds Gnome in Manitou Springs B&B

Everyone was searching in Colorado Springs lodging , but the search was successful right here in Manitou Springs. For those who guessed that the Two Sisters Inn gnome was hiding on the Rooms page, they didn't turn over every mushroom on the site--that was our own hard working innkeeper, Sharon, under the mushroom. The first person to find the real gnome and his village was our annual Pikes Peak hiker   guest Wayne Laws of CO who discovered the gnome on this page . Congratulations Wayne! Thanks to all who responded...

Appletons' general guide to the United States and Canada, With special itineraries, table of railway and steamboat fares, and an appendix describing the Columbian exposition. Revised

The pioneers of '49, A history of the excursion of the Society of California pioneers of New England, from Boston to the leading cities of the golden state, April 10-May 17, 1890

Manitou Springs

JAMA., The Journal of the American Medical Association

Historic Colorado, Day Trips & Weekend Getaways to Historic Towns, Cities, Sites & Wonders