Cheyenne Mountan State Park is remarkably close to Colorado Springs, which makes it perfect for a quick getaway…. if you can score reservations. This park fills up fast!

We felt lucky to score a reservation for a pull-through Site (#56) at The Meadows Campground. This level, open, unshaded site offered nice views of Cheyenne Mountain and the lights of Colorado Springs. However it did leave us a bit exposed the wind. Next time we'll try to score one of the more sheltered sites on the opposite side of the loop. The firepits had high sides so our campfire was more immune to the gusty weather than we were.

The rangers in this park are very friendly. In fact, as we were cooking dinner, one came around and offered us a mini-class on the hummingbirds that live in the park. Wished we would have had time to stop by the visitor center to learn more about the local flora and fauna.

As runners, we loved the easy access to trails and you can earn a patch for exploring all 21 miles of trails throughout the park. Mountain bikers seemed to be having a ton of fun out there too.

Always a plus… The bathrooms have flush toilets and were super clean and well stocked.