Interstate 25: Pueblo to Colorado Springs – Colorado

Interstate 25 is Colorado’s central north-south backbone, and the stretch between Pueblo and Colorado Springs packs plenty to see along its 43-mile run. We begin our drive merging onto I-25 from the U.S. Highway 50 and Colorado Highway 47 interchange in north Pueblo. Pueblo itself is worth a stop if you’re not in a hurry — check out the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk downtown, which is a relaxing detour full of art, restaurants, and a bit of local history. But today, we’re heading north, so as we roll out of Pueblo, the scenery quickly shifts from city streets to the more open prairie and rolling terrain of southern Colorado’s Front Range. Fountain Creek loosely parallels our path, providing a green thread through otherwise dry grassland and scrub.

About halfway into the drive, just north of the tiny community of Wigwam, we pass Pikes Peak International Raceway on the west side of the highway — if you’re lucky, you might catch glimpses of cars screaming around the oval or road course on a practice day. Right after the raceway, we pass Clear Spring Ranch, a public open space area that’s surprisingly good for a stretch of the legs or birdwatching if you feel like pulling off the highway. Continuing north, we approach Fountain, the southernmost suburb of the Colorado Springs metro area. Here, I-25 intersects the CanAm Highway — a corridor that links to Santa Fe Avenue through the heart of Fountain — and we skirt Fountain Creek Regional Park, a great place for a picnic or a casual stroll along the creekside trails.

As we leave Fountain behind, the cityscape starts to pick up pace. I-25 pushes north through the wide neighborhoods on the southern edge of Colorado Springs. We cross CO-16 and soon reach the major interchange with Academy Boulevard — one of the city’s main east-west routes. From here, the highway glides along the eastern foot of Cheyenne Mountain and Pikes Peak looms large to the west. Passing the interchange for U.S. Highway 24 east, the route sweeps in a slight S-curve that guides us just west of downtown Colorado Springs. You’ll glimpse the downtown skyline with the mountains as a stunning backdrop — it’s a reminder that this stretch of I-25 is more than just a connector; it’s a front-row seat to some of Colorado’s iconic scenery. North of downtown, we follow Monument Creek for a few miles and wrap up our drive at exit 145 for Fillmore Street, a good jumping-off point to explore Garden of the Gods, Old Colorado City, or head deeper into the Rocky Mountain foothills.