Popular tourist sights, challenging outdoor adventures, and lonely ghost towns await on this scenic loop through central Colorado.

Overview
During the late 19th century, gold fever roared through Colorado like wildfire, sparking instant towns. Like the mines nearby, most of the towns played out—though some still stand as ghostly reminders of the salad days. Besides ghost towns, natural wonders abound on this road trip, from towering mountains to fossil beds, from prime white water to a gorge deserving the name Royal.

Start in Colorado Springs
Head west on U.S. 24 from Colorado Springs, stopping first at the Garden of the Gods park (exit Hwy. 24 onto N 30th St.; www.gardenofgods.com), whose towering sandstone fins and red, gravelly cliffs are spiritual places for Native Americans. Area stables offer horseback trips into the surrounding countryside. Just past the Garden of the Gods, in Manitou Springs (www.manitousprings.org), is the Cave of the Winds (www.caveofthewinds.com). Take in the cave's geological wonders on a 45-minute Discovery Tour.

Pikes Peak
At Cascade, turn off for the 19-mile toll road leading up to the 14,110-foot summit of Pikes Peak (www.pikespeakcolorado.com). Along the way, look for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep patrolling the alpine zone of stunted trees and shrubbery. Take a trip on the Pikes Peak Cog Railway to the village of Manitou Springs.