Cave of the Winds
If you have some extra time and have never visited or been inside a cave before make a stop. From Hwy 24 you drive up a steep road to the caves. It's a nice drive with a great view of the canyon. It's $18.00 entrance fee for adults and $9.00 for the kids. It's a 45 minute tour. I have seen better caves like Mamouth Cave in Kentucy. Our guide was very nice and informative.
More than 1.8 billion years ago, the Pikes Peak area was covered by a vast, shallow sea. The sediments accumulated until they reached 40,000 feet. With time, chemical concretion, and pressure, they became sedimentary rock. Then during a period of orogeny (mountain-building), metamorphic rocks were formed. These rocks are called the Idaho Springs Formation and are located nearby in Idaho Springs, Colorado.
One billion years ago, in another episode of orogeny, a huge batholith (a gigantic igneous rock) was forced upward from deep below the Earth's surface. This batholith is what is referred to locally as the Pikes Peak batholith and the rock is Pikes Peak granite. It is now exposed over an area of hundreds of square miles.
