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Pikes Peak Highway: Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.09 (11 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/16

Duration1h–2h

GroupPrivate

Audio guideEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Driving 18 Miles to 14,000 Feet: Pikes Peak's Audio Stories

You drive your own car up Pikes Peak on a winding 18-mile route while an audio guide tells 29 stories about gold miners, water reservoirs, hiking trails, and the mountain's history. The tour works offline with GPS-triggered audio, includes scenic stops and optional hikes, and lets you start, pause, and explore at your own pace. One purchase covers your entire vehicle, and you keep lifetime access to revisit the tour anytime.

Prices and availability checked: 2026-08-23

Is this one for you?Right for families or small groups who want to explore Pikes Peak without joining a crowded tour bus, and for anyone who prefers to control the pace, stop for hikes or photos, and keep the tour on their phone for future visits to Colorado Springs.

1h–2h

Step-by-step itinerary

Start drive on Pikes Peak Highway
Stop at historic cog railway site
View Crystal Creek Reservoir
See North and South Catamount Reservoirs
Take a break at small parking area
Arrive at Glen Cove Visitor Center
Optional hike on Barr Trail
Observe lightning landscape area
Visit the bottomless pit viewpoint

The Experience

You turn onto the Pikes Peak Highway and the road starts climbing. The audio kicks in automatically—GPS-triggered, no fiddling with your phone—and a voice begins telling you about the gold miners who walked these slopes, the Ute paths that came before the road, and the Race to the Clouds that still happens every year. Over 18 miles and 29 separate stories, the mountain unfolds in front of you while the app narrates what you're actually looking at: Crystal Creek Reservoir, the Bottomless Pit overlook, the barren lightning fields near the summit. You're not on a bus with forty other people. It's just your car, your family, and the road.

The tour takes about 1 to 2 hours to drive straight through, but that's only if you don't stop. Most people do. There's Glen Cove Visitor Center at the halfway point, a small parking area for a quick break, and the Barr Trail—a 10-mile hiking route that dates back to the gold rush—if you want to stretch your legs and see the north face of Pikes Peak up close. You pause when you want, hike when you want, take photos when you want. The audio waits for you. No schedule, no group pace, no pressure to keep moving.

Before you go, download the Action Tour Guide app over WiFi or cellular, enter the password that arrives in your email, and download the tour file. Once it's on your phone, it works completely offline using GPS—no signal needed on the mountain itself. The route map is built in, the stories play automatically as you drive, and everything stays on your device. If you get stuck, support is available by chat, email, or phone. One purchase covers everyone in your car, not per person, and the access is lifetime. You can do this tour today, again next month, or years from now on a return trip to Colorado Springs.