There are plenty of fun, inexpensive things to do in the Pikes Peak region before winter arrives. In August, we featured hiking. This month, we’ll give you ideas for touring landmark attractions in the area. Glen Eyrie CastleGlen Eyrie Castle is the home Gen. William Palmer built when he came to the Pikes Peak region in 1870.In addition to paying $12,250 for 10,000 acres that would become Colorado Springs, Palmer bought 2,225 acres in a valley just north of Garden of the Gods.There, Palmer, and his wife, Mary, began construction of a 22-room frame house, which was remodeled in 1881 to add additional rooms and a tower.Locals called the estate, “Little Garden of the Gods,” for its outcroppings of red sandstone.To improve the landscaping, Palmer hired Scottish landscape architect, John Blair.While surveying the grounds, Blair spied an eagle’s nest in an outcropping high above; and, in his best Scottish brogue, uttered, “Glen Eyrie – valley of the eagle’s nest” – so the story goes.The couple planned to remodel again and turn the house into a castle, but Mary suffered a heart attack and was advised to move to a lower altitude. For a time, she and their three daughters lived in New England. Later, they moved to England, with Palmer visiting as often as possible.When Mary died in 1894 at the age of 44, Palmer remembered the promise he had made to turn the house into a castle.Construction began in 1904 and was completed in 1906. During construction, Palmer and his daughters toured Europe, buying fireplaces and other artifacts to fill the rooms.For that “castle” look, the exterior was sheathed in stone from Colorado Springs’ Bear Creek area. Window casings and doorways were made of Indiana limestone.Today, the estate is a conference center operated by The Navigators, an international, interdenominational Christian ministry established in 1933.A 90-minute, guided castle tour is available at 1 p.m. daily; during the summer, a tour is offered at 11 a.m. Monday through Friday.Reservations are required, and the tour costs $6 per person, with no charge for children under the age of 6.The grounds are open to the public for hiking Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., but reservations are required.Entrance: 3820 North 30th Street, Colorado SpringsPhone: 800-944-4536Colorado Springs – downtownFor those interested in architecture, history or both, downtown Colorado Springs provides plenty of opportunities to experience late 19th and early 20th century architecture.The architectural styles range from a Gothic Revival style church built in 1874 to the Art Deco Municipal Utilities building to a 1940s office building in the Moderne style.The city of Colorado Springs has created a self-guided walking tour that starts at the Cheyenne Building, 2 East Pikes Peak Ave., where the first survey stake of Palmer’s new settlement was driven on July 31, 1871.Built in the Classical Revival style, the building’s first floor was used as the western terminus of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroads. Sleeping rooms with shared bathrooms for the company’s employees occupied the second and third floors.From 1909 to 1963, the Cheyenne was a hotel, used sporadically. In 1991, John Hickenlooper saved the building from being torn down and replaced by a parking lot. He renovated it; and, in 1993, opened the Phantom Canyon Brewing Co.Follow the rest of the tour for 47 other examples of the city’s historic architecture, including the bronze statue of Palmer astride his favorite horse, Diablo.The statue was erected in 1929 in the intersection of Platte Avenue and Nevada Avenue – a location approved by city voters – 3,151 to 871 – despite concerns that it would be a traffic hazard. The $32,000 statue was privately financed.Drivers are too busy negotiating their cars around the statue to notice that Diablo’s saddle has no cinch.The tour ends with the Gray Rose Building, built in 1883. In 1938, the building was renovated with a Vitrolite and glass brick storefront in the Moderne style to house the Gray Rose Beauty Shop.In 1947, the building received another face lift and became a women’s apparel store, sporting an ambiance of elegance and sophistication.To take the tour online or in person, download the guide from http://springsgov.com/plan/historic/documents/WalkingTour.pdf.Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource CenterAs its name suggests, the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park is a place for dinosaur lovers.Some of the exhibits are casts of the original dinosaurs such as the rare Denversaurus that was found in Wyoming’s Niobrara County in 1987. It was discovered with almost a complete skull and more than 100 dermal plates.The original 18-foot fossil is in a museum in Japan, but the center’s cast reproduction – with its nickname of “Tank” – is almost as good.An herbivore living in the late Cretaceous period 66 million years ago, the Denversaurus’ dermal plates provided protection from the meat-eating Tyrannosaurus rex.T. rex is represented, too.The first T. rex specimens were found in 1892. Since then, more than 35 T. rex have been found, and the RMDRC’s T. rex, found in Harding County, S.D., in 1987; is one of the largest and most complete.The T. rex is 40 feet in total length, with a 5-foot long skull and a mouth lined with 10-inch teeth.The RMDRC is also home to a Thescelosaurus cast nicknamed “Peep.” The original was found in 2000 in Harding County, S.D., and resides at the Museum of Ancient Treasures in Wichita, Kan.At just 9 feet in length, the Thescelosaurus spent its time searching the late Cretaceous floodplains looking for plants and small animals to eat.Another Thescelosaurus named “Willow” was found with the remnants of a fossilized heart – an incredible discovery because organs and soft tissues are rarely fossilized.CT scans showed that Willow’s heart had four-chambers, supporting the idea that dinosaurs were warm-blooded like birds and mammals and had a higher activity level than previously thought.The RMDRC also has a children’s learning center where kids get a chance to feel dinosaur poop, make their own dinosaurs out of magnets and dig for dinosaurs.Admission:Seniors (65 and older): $10.50Adults: $11.50Children 5 to 12: $7.50Children 4 and under: FreeHours: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.201 South Fairview Street, Woodland Park
