Visiting Seven Falls in Colorado Springs with Dogs

We have stopped at quite a few waterfalls during our cross-country road trips. But so far, none have been as unique as Seven Falls, which is made up of seven individual waterfalls with a staircase running alongside which lets you climb up and get a much closer look.

We visited Seven Falls with our two dogs, Toby and Lily, as part of a larger road trip from Alabama to Grand Teton National Park. This was our second stop in Colorado Springs after spending the previous day at Garden of the Gods, and it took us a little further into the Rocky Mountains.

The entire area around Seven Falls was beautiful, including the shuttle ride and walk into the canyon and the waterfalls themselves. And while Seven Falls is very dog-friendly, our experience with two small dogs (one who is more than 14 years old) was a little different than what we initially thought it would be.

Here’s everything we learned about tickets, parking and the shuttle service, walking to and climbing the 224 stairs to the falls, visiting the Eagle’s Nest and exploring Seven Falls with dogs.

What to Know Before Visiting Seven Falls

We stopped off and explored Garden of the Gods the day before visiting Seven Falls, but we wanted to spend more time in the Colorado mountains before continuing our road trip north into Wyoming.

Seven Falls has been on our bucket list (subscribe to our newsletter to get a copy!) since I saw someone share a picture from there on social media. It shouldn’t be surprising that we will go out of our way to stop at waterfalls when we travel. Visiting Multnomah, Marymere, Sol Duc and Mingo Falls have been some of the highlights from our trips.

But the waterfalls we’ve visited so far have been two-tier waterfalls at most. Seven Falls features 7 individual and distinct waterfalls.

Since we were traveling with dogs, one big reason we chose to visit Seven Falls was because of how dog-friendly it is. We wanted this road trip to Grand Teton National Park to be as dog-friendly as possible since this was as much our vacation as it was our pups.

Tickets

You do need a ticket to visit Seven Falls. Our tickets were $25 per person and they didn’t charge anything extra for our dogs or the shuttle. They have more on-site than just the waterfall, too. For those interested, there are additional options that include ziplining and walking across suspension bridges, but those activities cost considerably more than the regular park admission.

Colorado Springs Weather

We reserved our tickets for 9am on Wednesday, August 19^th, so we would be out and walking early before the sun made things too hot.

Parking and the Shuttle

There is no parking directly at Seven Falls. When our reservations were emailed to us, they told us to park near the Norris Penrose Event Center which will be where a shuttle would pick us up and drive us to the falls entrance.

We parked, an attendant checked our reservations and gave us wristbands and we stepped onto a small white bus (the shuttle is dog-friendly, too). The ride took around 12 to 15 minutes and dropped us off near the intersection of Mesa Avenue and South Cheyenne Canyon Road.

From there, we walked 0.8 miles uphill before reaching the falls.

How Long Is the Walk to Seven Falls?

The walk from the shuttle drop-off to Seven Falls is about 0.8 miles with around 180 feet of elevation gain. It’s an uphill walk along the road and our dogs actually enjoyed this part more than the actual falls. They spent most of the walk sniffing everything they could find while we took our time and took pictures. Because we took our time getting up there, it took us around 25 minutes to make it to the falls.

The walk up was gorgeous. Unlike Garden of the Gods, where we mostly walked around massive rock formations on flat paths (with a couple paths up into the formations), Seven Falls had us walking along the road through a mountain canyon. From partway up the hill, we could even look up and see the zipline hanging between the mountain peaks.

We saw a number of wildflowers along the road when we visited in August and the grounds were very well maintained. As we made our way up the hill, we saw groundskeepers watering hanging flowers and taking care of the area.

While we didn’t use them, we saw a couple of golf carts taking visitors up and down the hill which helped with accessibility to the falls.

What Is There to Do at Seven Falls?

I went into our Seven Falls visit thinking we would walk 0.8 miles to see seven waterfalls, climb some stairs and head back down. I didn’t realize they had more things on site including the Seven Falls Shop, Rockhounds at the Eagle’s Nest, a restaurant, an observation area, an elevator and additional hiking trails.

There’s even a picnic area along the walk with a roof, concrete floor and chairs overlooking South Cheyenne Creek. It looked like a great place to stop and enjoy the scenery if you wanted to spend more time in the area. During our visit, though, the grass in front of it was flooded with water.

Near the Seven Falls Shop you’ll also find Restaurant 1858. We didn’t stop to eat, but we walked through the area on our way to the falls.

There is also an option to add ziplining and walking across suspension bridges to your visit. We skipped those because it wasn’t really what we were looking for, especially since we were traveling with our dogs.

Seeing Seven Falls for the First Time

Once we made it past the Seven Falls Shop, we finally reached the base of Seven Falls. There’s a small bridge that crosses the creek and there’s a covered area with rocking chairs right beside the start of the staircase. The covering even has flags from 12 different countries hanging around it. Right next to the stairs is a sign letting you know that there are 224 steps to the top.

The stairs up the falls are steep, but they are not nearly as extreme or difficult as climbing the Manitou Incline. Before we got there, we thought we’d be able to bring both of our dogs up the stairs, but we didn’t expect the stairs to be wet or have fairly large vertical gaps between them. At least large enough that our smallest dog, Toby, could easily slip through.

Water droplets covered the steps during our visit, and while the steps weren’t dangerously slippery, they were wet enough that we didn’t think it would be a good idea for us to bring our two small dogs up with us. Even if we were to carry them, we wouldn’t have had a good grip on the railing.

Instead of both Minerva and I going up together with our pups, we decided to go one at a time. One of us would stay back at the landing, sitting in the rocking chairs with the dogs while the other climbed the stairs to the falls and switch when the other got back.

Climbing the 224 Stairs at Seven Falls

I went up the stairs first while Minerva stayed back with Toby and Lily. The stairs run directly alongside the waterfalls, getting you up close and personal with each of the seven distinct cascades. They’re steep enough that you definitely feel like you’re gaining elevation, but I wouldn’t call them difficult.

Unlike the Eagle’s Nest, there is no elevator to the top of the falls.

The stairs are also relatively narrow, so there is some coordination involved when people are going both up and down or passing. Thankfully, the two stair sections aren’t too long, and there is a landing between them.

Along the way, they have signs posted with the names of the falls and descriptions of what type of waterfall each one is. I hadn’t thought that there could be different types of waterfalls before visiting. I always thought of a waterfall as a waterfall. Seeing Seven Falls with the description of the fall type helped me understand a little more about the differences.

At the top of the falls are two hiking trails. There’s the one-mile Inspiration Point Trail which takes about an hour and the Midnight Falls Trail, which takes about 30 minutes.

Can Dogs Go Up the Seven Falls Stairs?

Our visit was a little different from what we originally thought it would be. Seven Falls is very dog-friendly, and leashed dogs are allowed throughout much of the area, including the shuttle, Mountain Elevator and Eagle’s Nest. But we thought we’d be able to safely bring both dogs with us up the staircase alongside the falls.

The combination of wet stairs and the size of our dogs made us rethink our original plan. Toby is older, and we already limit how much he uses stairs because we don’t want him to hurt his back. And carrying him while climbing wet stairs could potentially risk us slipping.

Plus, the gaps and height between the steps also made us uncomfortable with the idea of Lily potentially slipping and falling through.

If you have larger dogs or dogs that are comfortable with stairs, your experience could be completely different.

Seeing Seven Falls From Eagle’s Nest

After we both climbed the stairs, we headed back toward the Seven Falls Shop and made our way through the tunnel toward the Mountain Elevator that took us to Eagle’s Nest. There’s a set of stairs with 185 steps directly to the left as well. The elevator is also dog-friendly and the doors open into Rockhounds at the Eagle’s Nest shop.

The view from the top was one of my favorite parts of our visit. From the bottom of the falls, you get to see all of the individual sections up close. From the stairs, you’re right alongside the water and can appreciate all the smaller details. Eagle’s Nest lets you see the entirety of Seven Falls surrounded by the canyon and mountains.

Toby seemed perfectly happy being so high up, but Lily was a little more nervous about being up there. On the edge closest to the falls, there’s a viewing scope at the overlook that lets you get a closer look at the falls.

Heading Back to the Shuttle

We made our way down from the Eagles Nest and started the walk back towards the entrance gate. By this point, the sun was higher and Toby was starting to get warm. Minerva ended up carrying him for part of the walk back to the shuttle, which made the return trip a little easier for him.

This time, the shuttle waiting for us was a large tour bus instead of the smaller white bus we rode in on. I’m guessing the larger bus becomes necessary later in the day as more visitors arrive.

Seven Falls wasn’t packed when we visited in the morning, but it was busy. I occasionally got stuck behind slower-moving people on the stairs, but there was enough room to pass.

Is Seven Falls Dog-Friendly?

Yes, Seven Falls is very dog-friendly, but there is a difference between dogs being allowed and every part of the experience being a good fit for every dog. Our dogs were able to ride the shuttle, walk the road to the falls, explore the visitor areas (including inside the Seven Falls Shop) and ride the Mountain Elevator to Eagle’s Nest.

We drew the line at the 224 stairs to the falls. If you’re bringing a small or older dog like we did, I’d recommend thinking about any issues climbing potentially wet stairs while holding or walking your dog.

Taking turns walking up the falls staircase was the safest option for us. We didn’t get to climb the stairs together, but we still both got to experience them, and all four of us got to enjoy the rest of Seven Falls together.

Our Experience Visiting Seven Falls

Seven Falls was a really fun and beautiful stop on our road trip through Colorado. I also loved that Seven Falls was more than just a simple waterfall stop. We could walk the road, stop to enjoy the creek, see the falls from directly beside them, climb the 224 stairs, take the elevator to Inspiration Point and get a stunning view of the falls from a distance.

We didn’t get to take the dogs up the stairs with us, but they were still able to experience most of Seven Falls. After Garden of the Gods the day before, this was another fun stop that took us a little further into the Rocky Mountains, and it was exactly the kind of dog-friendly adventure we were hoping to find on our way from Alabama to Grand Teton National Park.