There are two ways to reach the 14,115-foot summit of Pikes Peak without hiking: drive the Pikes Peak Highway yourself, or ride the Cog Railway. Both get you to the same place. How you get there is a genuinely different experience, and it's worth comparing honestly before you pick one.
Driving Pikes Peak Highway
The Pikes Peak Highway is a 19-mile toll road built in 1915, and driving it yourself gives you real control over your day — stop at Crystal Reservoir, linger at Devil's Playground, take as long as you want at the summit. That flexibility is the main draw.
It also comes with more moving parts than people expect:
Its own separate timed-entry system. You'll need to secure a timed-entry permit (required late May through September) in addition to standard admission — one more reservation to track on top of everything else you're planning.
Gas and charging matter before you start. There are no gas stations along the route, and no EV charging either. You're required to have at least a half tank before you're let through the gate.
A mandatory brake check on the way down. At Glen Cove, rangers check your brake temperature. If they're running hot, you'll wait — sometimes 20 minutes, sometimes closer to an hour — before you're cleared to keep descending.
The drive itself isn't for everyone. Past mile 14, guardrails thin out and the switchbacks get real. Plenty of people love it. Just as many find it more stressful than scenic.
Round trip, plan on 2 to 3 hours minimum, or 4 to 5 if you're stopping along the way.
Riding the Cog Railway
Riding the Cog Railway means nobody drives, nobody's brakes get checked, and the view is the same one you'd get from the highway's best overlooks, minus the parts where you have to keep your eyes on the road instead. The round trip takes about 3 hours — an hour up, 40 minutes at the summit, just over an hour back down.
The trade-off runs the other way: you're on the train's schedule, not your own, and tickets are worth booking well in advance.
So which one's actually better?
Honestly, it depends on what you value more. If you love being behind the wheel and want total control over your pace — stopping wherever, staying as long as you like at any one overlook — the highway delivers that. If you'd rather remove the driving, the permit-tracking, and the brake-check wait from your day entirely, the train wins outright, particularly if switchbacks with thin guardrails sound more nerve-wracking than exciting to you.
What neither option accounts for
Both comparisons above assume you're already at the base of the mountain. Neither factors in getting to Manitou Springs in the first place, or what the rest of your day looks like once you're back down.
Scout Colorado's private Cog Railway tour is built on exactly that idea. When you book with Scout, every detail is carefully managed including pickup from Denver, the Front Range, or Colorado Springs, seats already secured on the better side of the train, and Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs woven into the same day. That's what a perfect day in Colorado Springs actually looks like, and none of it's left for you to plan.
Why choose one or the other?
Scout's private Cog Railway tour skips the decision entirely — round-trip transportation from Denver, your seat already secured on the better side of the train, and Garden of the Gods built into the same day.