Pikes Peak COG Railway & Garden of Gods Tour

Everything about this tour was better than expected. The tour guide, Jason, was awesome. He knew exactly how to manage the schedule to get the maximum time from the tour. We appreciated his “hometown” knowledge about the area, his humor and music input make the trip very enjoyable, the picnic lunch was a large sub sandwich, chips & cookies. He also had great suggestion for photos. Highly recommend!

It’s a very pleasant experience Our guide/driver Mr Gable is very friendly and well taken care of the group Nice van and excellent driving

We had an absolutely fantastic day with Jason from Aspire Tours! From the very beginning, he was welcoming, funny, and clearly passionate about sharing his hometown with us. Jason was born and raised in Colorado, and that local knowledge made all the difference. He took us through neighborhoods and pointed out things we never would have known to look for on our own. We’re from Yorktown, Virginia, where American independence was fought for and won, so we especially loved Jason’s 250th USA shirt! 🇺🇸❤️ But what really made the day special was Jason himself. He had the perfect soundtrack for the trip, playing songs along the way that matched wherever we were headed. He kept us laughing with movie references, fun facts, insider tips, and maybe a corny joke or two. 😂 He also gave us the inside scoop on how to make the most of every stop, making sure we got the best possible experience at both Garden of the Gods and the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. And a HUGE thank-you to Jason for taking some of the coolest photos of our day! 📸 We couldn't have asked for a better guide or a more memorable adventure. Highly, highly recommend Jason! In fact, if I knew Jason was leading a tour, I'd sign up for it without hesitation. You’re guaranteed local knowledge, great stories, fun facts, plenty of laughs, and an experience you’ll remember. Thanks, Jason, for making our day at Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak so memorable! 🏔️🇺🇸 — Two very happy travelers from Yorktown, VA (Cyndi & Richard)

The railroad is cool. The train ride is awesome. People scared us so much about altitude sickness that I had a lot of anxiety going up the mountain and drank way too much water since there’s no bathroom on the train, but was fine in the end. There is not nearly enough time at the top. So way more time in transit than up top. The conductor was cheeky and made lots of jokes which is OK. I did not appreciate however when they pointed out things to look for that weren’t real. And they are very strict on board about what you should do but do it in a way that’s kind of like you’re a toddler. Definitely room for improvement on that front. For those of you who are scared of heights or get motion sick ( like me), the train goes super slow and you can’t often see all the way to the top or the bottom so even though I have some of those issues I did not have trouble at all on this ride.

If you want to experience the cog railway, garden of the gods and pikes peak, this is so perfect. Our guide was good, and the team was responsive too. The picnic lunch was great. They had some amazing sandwiches, cookies and chips!

Jason shared his in-depth knowledge being a local which added to the positive tour experience. Good photographer as well, played our music requests and added his sense of humor. Enjoyed the breathtaking views and landmarks. Encouraged us to break the ice and learn about each other’s background with our group.

Gable is an amazing tour guide. He is so knowledgeable about points of interest on the way. He made the trip very enjoyable. Ethan, on the train, was entertaining and helpful. Be sure to try the donuts at the summit.

This was one of the BEST tours I have ever been on and it was mainly bc of Jason, our INCREDIBLE tour guide! I cannot say enough good things about him. Jason is a very experienced and professional tour guide who is a font of information- everything from history to modern happenings, best picture angles, wildlife, etc etc! He is extremely entertaining as well, peppering facts with jokes and songs! He clearly loves what he does and that passion is infectious! The tour itself was fantastic! Garden of the Gods is just magical; the Cog railway is fun and had a great tour conductor as well; and Pike’s Peak is amazing! I encourage anyone to take O2 with them up there, as I definitely felt the effects of the altitude, (headache, fast heartbeat, hard to take a complete breath). The views were spectacular and bring a jacket bc it is about 30-40 degrees colder than at the bottom of the mountain. We had a yummy lunch (included) in between the 2 excursions and there was plenty of water that Jason had for us. And because we had some time left over, and everyone got back on the van on time, we were able to tour and shop in Manitou Springs for an hour or so. Jason knows the candy shop owner who let us use their bathrooms and gave us samples of their delicious fudge! I bought some candied nuts there bc of their kindness! Jason took us through the town and on our way home, pulled over bc he spotted a beautiful buck munching on a tree. We were able to safely hop out and take some pix of him. Jason The ONLY thing that could have been better is the communication once the trip is booked. We had a friend who wanted to join us and couldn’t bc they were sold out, but it turned out that someone mistakenly booked herself twice , so our friend could have gone, had we known that ahead of time. Other than that, it is well worth the money! I’m not sure if you can request Jason, but if you can, you should definitely try! Tour guides like him are few and far between!

We enjoyed the ride, the views and scenery, what a wonderful experience! Highly recommended. Not to be missed if in the area!

Jason is what all guides should be like. A very good driver, throughly knowledgeable, polite, all while being entertaining as well with a great sense of humor! The day fly by with Jason at the wheel.