How Far Is Colorado Springs from Denver: Distance, Drive Time and Route

How far is Colorado Springs from Denver gets a quick answer from anyone who’s driven it: 70 miles from Union Station, and 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 30 minutes if I-25’s behaving. Fly into DEN and it’s 85 miles, closer to 1 hour 30 to 1 hour 45 minutes, since the airport’s parked way out on the plains.

Those are the numbers the map app shows when everything’s dry. The Friday-afternoon version, with rush hour in the Tech Center and sleet on Monument Hill, is a different conversation.

Denver to Colorado Springs Distance by Starting Point

Denver’s a wide metro, and the Front Range suburbs give some people a head start. If you’re staying with friends in Lone Tree, you’re 17 miles ahead of anybody checking out of a Union Station hotel, and the Denver Tech Center’s about 11 miles ahead.

If your flight lands after dark, a Denver Airport to Downtown Denver ride and a night in town are worth a thought, since I-25 is a calmer road at 9am than at 11pm.

Denver to Colorado Springs Drive Time: What Slows I-25

At 11am on a dry Tuesday the Denver to Colorado Springs drive time really is 1 hour 15 minutes. Leave at 4pm on a Thursday and the first 20 miles do most of the damage, because southbound commuters fill every lane past the Tech Center and Lone Tree.

Further south, the Gap is the other pinch point. CDOT counts up to 87,000 vehicles a day there on summer weekends, and its crash data peaks between 7 and 8am and again from 3 to 4pm. Castle Rock adds its own wrinkle until early 2027, since the Crystal Valley interchange is still a work zone with shifted lanes.

Then there are the Express Lanes, one each way through the Gap, open all day and priced by traffic. With an ExpressToll pass, the full Castle Rock to Monument stretch runs $4.15 to $4.75 during the day. The same trip billed by license plate costs $10.40 to $11.90, which is about what it takes to make someone order a transponder.

The Route South: Castle Rock, the Gap and Monument Hill

It’s one road the whole way, I-25 South through Douglas County and into El Paso County.

• You’ll pass Castle Rock at about the halfway point.
• Larkspur’s exit sits in the middle of the Gap.
• Monument Hill then tops out at 7,352 feet.
• Soon after Monument, Colorado Springs starts.

The Gap covers the 18 miles between the south edge of Castle Rock and Monument, and it was two lanes each way until 2022. The I-25 South Gap project wrapped up in November 2022, although it took $419 million to get there. Truck climbing lanes now sit near Monument Hill and Greenland, so a loaded semi doesn’t set the pace for everyone behind it. Crews also added 4 wildlife crossings and 28 miles of fencing, since deer had strong opinions about the old highway.

Monument Hill sits on the Palmer Divide at 7,352 feet, which makes it the highest point on I-25 between the two cities. Say it’s a sunny March afternoon in Denver while Colorado Springs is dry too. The top of the hill can still carry packed snow then, with a line of cars doing 25 behind a plow.

On January 18, 2019 more than 20 vehicles piled up near the county line, so southbound delays ran past 2 hours.

How Far Is Colorado Springs from Denver Airport?

DEN’s out on the plains east of the city, which is why Denver Airport to Colorado Springs runs 85 miles. You leave on Peña Boulevard and then follow the E-470 toll road down to I-25, south of the Tech Center.

Downtown Colorado Springs takes 1 hour 30 to 1 hour 45 minutes from the terminal, and The Broadmoor’s about 5 miles past that. Colorado Springs Airport’s only about 9 miles from The Broadmoor, although you’ll find a lot more flights at DEN. Our Denver Airport car service picks you up right at the terminal, so the ride is door-to-door.

Distance from Denver to Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods and The Broadmoor

The Air Force Academy is the nearest, since its Hosmer Visitor Center opened outside the North Gate in May 2026. Pikes Peak is the one that catches people out, because the road keeps climbing for 19 miles past the gate to 14,115 feet.

Denver to Colorado Springs by Bus and Train

The Denver to Colorado Springs bus is Bustang’s South Line, and for $12 it’s a fair deal, with CDOT running it from Union Station to the Colorado Springs Downtown Terminal. The ride takes about 2 hours 15 minutes, since it stops at Colorado Station, Sky Ridge, Monument and Woodmen Park-n-Rides along the way.

There are 12 buses each way on weekdays, though if you miss the 8:05pm from Union Station you’re stuck till morning. Weekends drop to 6, running between 8:45am and 7pm, so check the Bustang South Line schedule before you count on a late bus.

A Denver to Colorado Springs train is a nice idea with a long timeline, since passenger trains don’t run between the cities today. The Colorado Connector rail plan puts Colorado Springs service at 2032 at the earliest, even if everything goes to plan.

Private Car from Denver to Colorado Springs

A private car is the door-to-door option, because the driver meets you at DEN or a Denver address and stops at your hotel. The ride from DEN takes about 1 hour 35 minutes, while the bags stay in one trunk the whole way.

The fare doesn’t include the 20% gratuity, so a $485 SUV ride really comes to $582. Our Denver to Colorado Springs car service page compares the other ways down, and the SUV and van fleet page shows what each vehicle looks like inside.