a sport that was originally a daily activity of working cowboys, contains the Hall of Champions with recent inductees, two 20-minute multimedia presentations on the early rodeo, and many exhibits documenting rodeo history through arti- facts, such as a saddle used by Cody Wright in the 2008 Bronc Riding World Championship.
(719) 528-4764 www.prorodeohalloffame.com
Rock Ledge Ranch
This 277-acre living history farm museum contains outdoor exhibits that depict life in four areas central to the Pikes Peak region. Visitors can take self-guided tours of the 1775 Ute Indian exhibit, which contains original tipis, the 1860’s Galloway home- stead, the 1880’s Chambers home and ranch with blacksmith shop, and the 1907 Edwardian country estate.
(719) 578-6777 www.rockledgeranch.com
South Park City Museum
This recreated 19th-century mining town contains seven original structures and 27 restored buildings, including a brewery, dentist office, schoolhouse, and stage- coach barn. Visitors can see an arrastra ore crusher, a Wilfley separating table used to recycle metal in the mining dis- play, and costumed interpreters leading horses in the corral.
(719) 836-2387 www.southparkcity.org
United States Air Force Academy
Established in 1954 during the Cold War, the Air Force’s premiere military school boasts a 31,600-square-foot visitors center that features exhibits exploring how the academy builds the moral, academic, ath- letic, and military character of their cadets, in addition to a survey of Air Force history dating back to its early years as a junior branch of the U.S. Army. A 250-seat the- ater plays a 14-minute film on the academy life of a cadet. Self-guided tours of the 18,000-acre campus include the honor court, field house, Arnold Hall, and cadet chapel.
(719) 333-2025 www.usafa.af.mil
Western Museum of Mining and Industry
This 17,000-square-foot museum, located on a 27-acre site, showcases the history of technological metallurgy in the Pikes Peak region with an 18-minute video on early mining camps in the West, and exhibits on drill operating and gold panning. Sixty-minute guided tours let visitors see a full- scale underground gold mine recon- struction, a recreated 1890 assay office, and an operable 1895 Corliss 500-horse- power steam engine.
(800) 752-6558 ww.wmmi.org
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
Located in the mountain branch section of the Santa Fe Trail, this reconstructed 1833 fur trading post was once the center for Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain’s boom- ing fur trading business with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho. Visitors can view a 20-minute film about the post’s traders and trappers; costumed interpreters lead 60-minute guided tours through a trade room filled with buffalo robes, a blacksmith shop, and game room.
(719) 383-5010 www.nps.gov/beol
Boggsville Historical Site
Perched on the banks of the Purgatoire River, this 1866 nine-room adobe building was once the home of Thomas Boggs. Later it served as the last residence of Kit Carson.
(719) 456-1358 www.phsbc.info/ boggs.htm
El Pueblo History Museum
This 9,000-square-foot regional museum contains nine exhibits on the history of the Pueblo area, which began Spanish ex- ploration. Visitors can see French armor, Indian beaded pouches, and adobe fur trader William Bent’s carved wooden chest.
(719) 583-0453 www.coloradohistory.org/hist_sites/pueblo/pueblo.htm
Francisco Fort Museum
The reconstructed 1862 adobe fort re-cre- ates a burgeoning 19th-century Colorado town with unique artifacts, such as an origi- nal 1850 letter written by Abraham Lincoln to one of his clients, musical instruments, and rifles. The six-acre site contains a coun- try store, schoolhouse, log cabin, and saloon.
(719) 742-5501 www.southerncolorado.info/ attraction.php?id=80
Kit Carson Museum
The 1940 adobe building houses this 3,000-square-foot museum, which high- lights Kit Carson’s work as a trapper and frontiersman in the Bent County area. Ex- hibits showcase letters and photographs, while visitors can explore the grounds that contain a blacksmith shop, 1876 jail, and carriage h