We came here in September of 2021, about 17 years from when I lived in the Springs. Back then, I had gone to the summit via the cog railway in Manitou Springs, which was amazing. Always wanted to make the drive though and finally got the chance. Wow! The lower half of the drive is amazing in itself, but the north half past the brake check station……holy cow! Better focus on the road as a driver because there is literally nothing between you and nothingness on some of those switchbacks. Where there are pull offs, take advantage of them. There are views for days! The summit itself has been completely renovated and remodeled. Amazing new building with a gift shop and cafe.
We came here in September of 2021 and honestly didn’t know what experience we’d have. Seeing the carving in progress is cool and all, but after hearing how long they’ve been working on this project, I feel as though this place is taking their sweet time carving Crazy Horse and just collecting money to add to the buildings surrounding the carving as opposed to making more headway on the carving itself. I heard one guy there say that he can’t tell anything has changed in the 10 years since he had last visited. We left after a very short period there.