Such a beautiful place, wish we had more time. It was raining, so we couldn't drive up Mount Scott, but we explored the park, hiked a few trails, and saw the Prairie Dogs - which was the highlight of my trip. Worth it to drive to the visitor center, since I found it hard to figure out where everything was, there are not a lot of maps online. Unfortunately, because of this we missed the Holy City, and since we were on a strict timeline, we couldn't backtrack. Look for a map of the area first, maybe in a visitor center outside of the area will have one.
Not quite giant... only worth it if you are near. Worth it to check out the veterans memorial next to it. Nice photo op.
We drove to the top and I was scared to death...found out me in a vehicle and heights isn't my thing. Take me outside, I'm fine with the heights - but driving I kept picturing a plummeting death. I even tried to look up statistics, but it would seem they don't publish things like this. Plenty of vids of the racers crashing, but nothing on the "average" drivers. It does happen because there are countless blog posts about "witnesses," but again that is up for debate. So -- if you are freaking a bit about it, just make sure you have a reliable driver. Luckily, my husband is a Marine, trained to drive a militarized vehicle, and practiced on the hills/mountains of California, but I was still a bit of a pain in the petunia. For example, every time we rounded a tight turn I made a weird noise that had his hands sweating.
It you get anything out of this rambling review - just have a confident driver. And know that they should always keep their eyes on the road, so make LOTS of stop - if just for the driver's sake. It took us close to 3 1/2 hours. We made most of the stops. We played in the snow. My husband broke out the guitar and played on the overlook at 12K feet. Drive it though - that cog train thing - for one it's overpriced and two - you don't stop and SEE things. The top of the mountain is NOTHING. It stunk, there is nothing but a gift shop, a bit of snow and lots of rock. It's kind of ugly. There isn't really a good view, because you are so high, so it's washed out - and BRIGHT. The views are lower...when you get to the top - it's more of a WOOOOO I DID IT! Walk around and let's go back down.
The RANGERS are awesome, they do break checks (we got a B+ BTW) and will have you "rest" if you are a bit hot after you get below the tree line.
I think I rambled enough. Do it - and don't Google Pike's Peak accidents.
We hiked up at 3:30 and found it closed for 4, our fault, but we did have to stop at the small creek - so again, our fault. But, along the way we say transients washing in the creek, a bunch of people "smoking" and it smelled slightly of urine. Then we couldn't even get in. There isn't a lot of parking in the crowded times (we went in June).
It is a little run down, but mostly clean. They could have cleaned the tub better. And it was SUPER hot in our room when we got there and took forever to cool down. But --- for the price, you can't beat it.
Beautiful lake. Well marked trails and clean. Nice stop in the middle of Louisiana.