Our favorite things to do under Colorado’s summer sun

May 19, 2023

(Susan / stock.adobe.com)

Kids hot and crabby? Cool ’em off at your (free!) neighborhood splash pad.

• Deerfield Hills Sprayground at Deerfield Hills Community Center, 4290 Deerfield Hills Road.

Open June 1-Aug. 7, Wednesdays 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., all other days 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Aug. 8-Sept. 4, Friday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• The Water Hole at John Venezia Park, 3555 Briargate Parkway. Opens May 26, daily hours 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• The Splash Pad at Panorama Park, 4540 Fenton Road. Opens May 26, daily hours 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Uncle Wilber Fountain at Acacia Park, corner of Tejon and Bijou streets. Opens May 26, daily hours noon to 6 p.m.

• Julie Penrose Fountain at America the Beautiful Park, 126 Cimino Drive. Opens May 26, daily hours 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Aga Park splash pad, 507 N. El Paso St., Fountain. Daily hours 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Open through Labor Day.

(Note: If your child is still in diapers, please have a care. Water is chlorinated, but no amount of chlorine can deal with a diaper dump.)

(Jenifoto / stock.adobe.com)

Manitou's Ice Cream Social and Pie Baking Contest is back this year, on Monday, July 3, at 5:30 p.m. at Bud Ford Pavilion in Soda Springs Park, 1016 Manitou Ave.; tinyurl.com/MS-pie-yum. Feeling competitive? Enter your homemade pie in the annual contest — there will be first-, second- and third-place prizes in both Kid and Adult divisions.

(Courtesy BJ's Velvet Freez)

For a taste of summers past — sundaes, shakes, floats and burgers — you can drive or bike to one of the Springs’ classic drive-ins...

BJ's Velvet Freez (opened in 1954 as a Tastee-Freez, seen below; bjsvelvetfreez.com), 1511 N. Union Blvd.; Cy's Drive In (cysdrivein.com), 1833 W. Uintah St.; and The Drive-In Tasty Freeze (facebook.com/DriveInTastyFreeze), 2309 N. Weber St.

More of our favorite things to do outside in the Colorado sunshine...

Fight fire with fire: Spicy foods make you sweat, right? So when the temps are in the 90s, skip the snow cone and cool yourself down with some Pueblo chiles. Our regional fave — delivering up to 20,000 Scoville Heat Units — is the sole focus of the Pueblo Chile Growers Association, which offers a raft of hot, hot chile recipes at pueblochile.org (think Candied Pueblo Chiles and Pueblo Green Chile Corn Bread). Dragon breath!

Hangin’ out the wash: Even if you live in a community with an HOA, Colorado law protects your right to hang your laundry out to dry, so long as you use a retractable or portable clothesline. And nothing smells better in the summertime than bed sheets dried in the sun.

Don't get lost: Indy Executive Editor Bryan Grossman recommends the Trailforks app (powered by Outside, trailforks.com), which calls itself "a trail database, map & management system" that includes "topographic layer, points of interest, trail popularity, heatmaps, routes, trail conditions, Strava segments, photos, videos" and more. You can use it for free "in your home region." You might also want to try out Colorado Parks and Wildlife's free COtrex app (Colorado Trail Explorer, trails.colorado.gov), to "discover Colorado's expansive network of trails and track your experience out on them."

Ditch the cola: You will find agua fresca, a chilly smooth blend of summertime fruits, on menus at Mexican restaurants all over town, especially mom-and-pop places. To make your own at home, just combine 4 cups of chopped fruit in a blender — pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, strawberries, guava, papaya or cucumber — along with 3 cups of water, 1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the juice of one lime. Puree till smooth and serve over ice, or refrigerate for up to 72 hours. Enjoy!

(astrosystem / stock.adobe.com)

And when the sun goes down: The Colorado Springs Astronomical Society (csastro.org) has a full summer lineup of star parties, plus daytime and evening activities including "SUN-days," full moon gatherings, and a summer solstice astronomy hike on June 21 at Garden of the Gods.

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