Attractions near Pennington Place

Attractions Within Minutes

Walsenburg Golf Course

The Walsenburg Golf Course was established in 1965 and offers not only golf but a full club house facility with a restaurant and bar that can be accessed on foot or by a road directly from the north gate entrance of Black Diamond Park. Walsenburg golf course is a city owned 9 hole course located only minutes from Pennington Place. We can arrange a golf package or you can call them for information. The course is located inside the beautiful Lathrop Park. Golf is also available in Trinidad and Colorado City.

Lathrop State Park

Colorado's first state park, Lathrop State Park, is 1,460 acres of recreational enjoyment nestled in the shadow of the Spanish Peaks in Southern Colorado.

The park's two lakes offer a variety of boating and angling opportunities for all types of water recreation. Martin Lake offers water skiing, power and sail boating. Because Martin is a warm-water lake, it makes it great for swimmers. Horseshoe Lake is a peaceful haven for canoeists, kayakers, sailors and other boaters at wakeless speeds. Catfish, bass, walleye, trout and blue gill thrive in both lakes. Horseshoe Lake is known for its large tiger muskies.

Day Trip Attractions

Southern Colorado Scenic Highway of Legends.

The lore of this area is vivid, swirling in the spiritual myths of the American Indians and the history of their clashes with Spanish explorers. Like much of Colorado, where the promises of fortune led, trouble followed and tales of outlaws "settling their differences" are common.

Start by taking U.S. Hwy. 160 west from Walsenburg and branch off on Colorado Hwy. 12 to La Veta. Along this stretch of two-lane highway, you can view unusual volcanic formations radiating outward from the Spanish Peaks. The highway rises to Cuchara Pass on the shoulder of the Spanish Peaks. The Tarahumare Indians held these summits as sacred and believed that all life on earth originated from the area. Below the pass is the glorious Cuchara Valley, a hidden wonderland even most Coloradoans have failed to notice.

View the videos of Southern Colorado's Scenic Highway of Legends. This is truly one of the most unique and beautiful drives in the state:

Great Sand Dunes National Monument

Sixteeen square miles of 800' sand dunes surrounded by the fourteen thousand foot peaks of the Sangre de Christo Mountains await patient travelers. Dune-climbing is allowed, and there are many picnic areas close to the dunes. A modern Visitors' Center illuminates the geology of this Colorado wonder.

A visit to this best and strangest Colorado landscape involves a three-hour trip south from Blue Skies Inn along good and scenic highways to the historic San Luis Valley. Take the great circle route, with an outbound side-trip to Bishop Castle, and return through some of Colorado's most scenic countryside.

Driving: 1 hr 9 min (71.1 miles)

Bishops Castle

This wonderful castle, the product of Jim Bishop's thirty-year effort, is located north of the little town of San Isabel, about an hour and a half drive from Blue Skies Inn. The Castle is open during daylight hours. It's a construction site, and the owner makes no effort to obstruct visitors from inspecting every aspect of the castle from tower to dungeon.

Bishop castle is a monumental statue in stone and iron that cries loud testament to the beauty and glory of not only Having a Dream, but Sticking with your Dream no matter what, and most importantly, that if you do believe in yourself and strive to maintain that belief, anything can happen! Three full stories of interior rooms complete with a Grand Ballroom, soaring towers and bridges with vistas of a hundred miles, and a Fire-Breathing Dragon make the Bishop Castle quite the unforgettable experience! Visitors are always welcome free of charge, and the castle itself is always open.

Driving: 57 min (49.1 miles)

Royal Gorge

Sixteeen square miles of 800' sand dunes surrounded by the fourteen thousand foot peaks of the Sangre de Christo Mountains await patient travelers. Dune-climbing is allowed, and there are many picnic areas close to the dunes. A modern Visitors' Center illuminates the geology of this Colorado wonder.

A visit to this best and strangest Colorado landscape involves a three-hour trip south from Blue Skies Inn along good and scenic highways to the historic San Luis Valley. Take the great circle route, with an outbound side-trip to Bishop Castle, and return through some of Colorado's most scenic countryside.

Driving: 1 hr 42 min (94.8 miles)