Colorado Springs KOA Holiday, Fountain (Colorado Springs), CO

Jerry — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 00:59:46 +0000

We stayed in Fountain for a week in late May of 2022 to visit our son, Matthew and grandson Anders. Unfortunately our first choice of parks, Cheyenne Mountain State Park did not have any empty sites large enough for us so we picked the KOA in southern Colorado Springs. Fortunately, the Colorado Springs KOA is a good choice for a visit particularly if you have children or grandchildren. Even though their main splash pad pool was still closed due to issues from the off season, there was still plenty to do.

Site 151 with Pikes Peak in the background

Site 151

Waterfall on Fountain Creek behind the park

Fun with Anders

Park Review – Colorado Springs KOA Holiday

Rating:
Location: Fountain, CO
Site Quality / Amenities: Roads were asphalt and sites were gravel. Some smaller trees for shade. Restrooms and showers, self-service laundry, Office with store for camping necessities and some food items. This is a KOA Holiday park so they had activities for kids and quite a few outdoor things to do including horseshoes, a jumping pillow, heated swimming pool and adult hot tub and a splash pad.
Type: Commercial Park
Access: Easy access right off I-25 south of Colorado Springs.
Staff: The staff were a bit disorganized and distracted when we arrived but were otherwise friendly.
Cellular/Wi-Fi: AT&T was marginal and frequently dropped offline. Verizon was decent at about 12.8 Mbps. They had Wi-Fi but we didn’t use it.
Nearby parks: Except for the Cheyenne Mountain State Park nearby, most parks in the area are not highly rated and are quite expensive for what you get. Some of the parks on US 24 going up toward Woodland Park look nice but they are quite expensive. Diamond Campground in Woodland Park is very nice but your experience there could depend on what site you get. We did drive through Northwoods Village off Fillmore but it appeared to be mostly long term residents and would be tight for our rig. We wouldn’t stay there.
What we liked: Good views of Pike’s Peak and surrounding mountains.
What we didn’t like: This is a typical KOA – the park was decent but not great but the prices are high. We got a deluxe site with a patio and with taxes, etc. it averaged about $100 per night. The patio was cracked concrete and our site was one of the older deluxe ones and could have used some TLC for the price. One of the amenities listed was cable TV which they said was out of order due to construction going on within the park but it was clear that cable had not been operational for some time. our connection was damaged and could not have been used and most sites had the pole for the connections laying on the ground. Lots of road noise as the park is right on I-25.
Verdict: We’d stay here again if we couldn’t find anything better in the area.

Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Colorado Springs, CO

Jerry — Sun, 17 Oct 2021 21:11:25 +0000

We stayed here in mid-October for a week to visit our son Matthew and grandson Anders. Because the primary reason for this stop was to see family, we didn’t do a lot of exploring in the area. As might have been expected we had a few warm days followed by some heavy snow that didn’t stick and then some cooler days and nights. We plan to return when we can enjoy being outside more to enjoy the views.

Many people might recognize Cheyenne Mountain as the location where the underground operations center for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was built during the Cold War to monitor North American airspace for missile launches and Soviet military aircraft. Built deep within granite, it was designed to withstand the impact and fallout from a nuclear bomb. Its function broadened with the end of the Cold War, and then many of its functions were transferred to Peterson Air Force Base in 2006. One of the entrances into the underground tunnels can be seen above the state park.

Fort Carson and south Colorado Springs from our site

Hiking one of the trails in the park

Carving a pumpkin

Anders having fun on the slide

Raptor Glen Site 10

Park Review – Cheyenne Mountain State Park

Rating:
Site Quality / Amenities: Asphalt roads with concrete pads. Large amount of space between each site.
Type: State Park
Access: From I-25, take exit 135. Go west on Hwy 83/South Academy Blvd. to Hwy 115. Turn left (south) on Hwy 115. Go to JL Ranch Heights road (Gate 1 of Fort Carson will be to the left) and turn right (This turn is very narrow for a big rig!). Be very careful of the signs from this point as there are two different places that could mess you up. The first is at the roundabout just after turning on JL Ranch Heights – stay to the left to enter the roundabout rather than taking the exit off to the right. The second place is at the Limekiln Trailhead turn off just after the park entrance station. It looks like you need to go straight at the intersection which would take you to the Limekiln Trailhead. Instead you want to take the road to the right to stay on JL Ranch Heights road. After that follow the signs carefully to find the correct campground. Having a map of the park ahead of time would be a good idea.
Staff: We didn’t have any interaction with staff at the park except for the camp host in our loop. He was friendly and helpful.
Cellular/Wi-Fi: Verizon was slow at 2 Mbps (on 5G!) and AT&T was a bit slow at 5 Mbps.
Restaurants: We only tried a fast food restaurant near the Walmart while we were here.
Nearby parks: We didn’t check out any other parks in the area.
What we liked: Many sites have great views of Fort Carson and south Colorado Springs. Nighttime views and just before sunrise can be spectacular. Walmart, Home Depot and other major stores nearby, although the Walmart was extremely crowded. Lots of easy to moderate hiking trails in the park. Site 10 in Raptor Glen Loop was plenty long enough to park in front or behind the trailer.
What we didn’t like: The road into the park can be narrow and confusing in places.
Verdict: We will definitely come back, hopefully in the spring/summer when temperatures are warmer and we can sit outside and enjoy the city lights at night.

Campground Map

Colorado Springs – Keep Up With The Joneses

Colorado Springs KOA Holiday, Fountain (Colorado Springs), CO

Park Review – Colorado Springs KOA Holiday

Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Colorado Springs, CO

Park Review – Cheyenne Mountain State Park