Cheyenne Mountain State Park is the first night, ten miles south of downtown and open year-round. Colorado Parks and Wildlife takes reservations six months out, so book the site first and the van second. Days go back into town, where Garden of the Gods is free, walkable in a morning, and red sandstone from end to end. The park allows no camping, which is why the nights are south.
Pikes Peak Highway to the summit
The highway runs 19 miles from Cascade to the 14,115-foot summit, the last of it across alpine tundra past Devils Playground. Length is the catch. Bigger builds get turned away, so measure the van before you plan a day around the drive, and in summer reserve the timed-entry window that gets you past mile 7 before you leave town.
On the way up US-24, Cave of the Winds sits in Williams Canyon at Manitou Springs, a lit walk through limestone chambers worth an hour before the climb.
Rampart Reservoir and Thunder Ridge
West of town the ponderosa opens onto Rampart Reservoir at 9,200 feet, and Thunder Ridge Campground sits right above the water with 21 nonelectric sites at $28 a night from mid-May to mid-October. Tight corners and close trees suit a van and turn a big rig around. As of August 2026, Stage 1 fire restrictions are in place across the Pike-San Isabel, so check before you light anything. If you want a bigger rig and can skip the highway, RV rentals in Colorado Springs go larger than a van.
Mueller State Park, up on the Divide
For a full weekend, keep west past Woodland Park to Divide, where Mueller State Park spreads aspen and spruce across 44 miles of trail under the Pikes Peak granite. Its 136 sites take electric hookups and stay open year-round. Dogs come along in the campground and on the paved roads but stay off the trails.
Farther afield, the Royal Gorge Bridge crosses the Arkansas River canyon west of Cañon City, a day drive south and back with a night near town on either end. For Rocky Mountain National Park and the high peaks, that trip runs out of Denver; the rest of the state's van routes are on the Colorado hub.