The Penny Arcade and the Mineral Fountains
Near Manitou Springs, Colorado
Two of Manitou's most beloved traditions sit almost side by side, and both invite you to help yourself. First, the mineral fountains. Eight of the town's springs still flow through public fonts along Manitou Avenue, and you are welcome to drink from every one, free.
Each has its own name and its own flavor. Cheyenne Spring is a sweet soda spring, considered by many the best-tasting in town. Navajo and Shoshone springs carry Native names honoring the peoples who first revered the waters.
Shoshone is heavily carbonated. In the town's heyday, local bottlers turned this fizzy water into sodas that were shipped well beyond Colorado. Then there is the Penny Arcade, a longtime Manitou fixture and still running.
Row on row of coin-operated games span every decade, from machines over a hundred years old to modern arcade cabinets, fortune-tellers, air hockey, and shooting games, plus a yard full of vintage kiddie rides out front. Drink the sacred water, then go play a game that has been swallowing coins since your great-grandparents were young. That is Manitou Springs in a nutshell.
