Plan a Pikes Peak day
plan_pikes_peak_dayUse this when someone plans a day on Pikes Peak (Colorado) and wants to know what applies to their date and way up: drive the Pikes Peak Highway (car), the Highway shuttle from mile 7, the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, or hiking the Barr Trail. Returns whether a timed-entry permit or reservation is needed on that date, Highway gate opening, last-entry and summit-closing times, closures (holidays, Hill Climb race day), a timeline from leaving the start point to being back with the noon thunderstorm cutoff in June to September, snow-season turnaround points, summit sunrise and sunset, what to book in which order (official ticket pages first), sold-out fallbacks (tours that include the ride up, with partner links) and a link that opens the plan in the pikespeak.info planner. Example questions: "Do I need a reservation to drive Pikes Peak on July 4?", "Help me plan a Pikes Peak trip next Saturday by Cog Railway with kids", "What time should we leave Denver to drive up Pikes Peak in October?". Not for live road status or group prices.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| way | Yes | car = drive the Pikes Peak Highway yourself (default), shuttle = drive to the mile 7 lot and ride the Highway shuttle, cog = Pikes Peak Cog Railway from Manitou Springs, hike = Barr Trail on foot. | |
| date | No | Date in Colorado: YYYY-MM-DD, "today" or "tomorrow" (default today). | |
| with_kids | No | Children in the group (adds family notes). | |
| start_time | No | HH:MM, 24-hour: arrival at the Highway gate (car, shuttle), train departure (cog) or trailhead start (hike). Default: gate opening, 08:00 train, 03:30 trailhead. | |
| from_sea_level | No | Coming from near sea level, not acclimatised (adds altitude advice and slows the hike). | |
| starting_point | No | Optional start for driving times: manitou = Manitou Springs (town centre), cos = Downtown Colorado Springs, cos_airport = Colorado Springs Airport (COS), denver = Downtown Denver, den_airport = Denver International Airport (DEN), woodland = Woodland Park. |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| sun | No | ||
| way | Yes | ||
| book | Yes | ||
| date | Yes | ||
| gate | No | ||
| notes | Yes | ||
| start | Yes | ||
| steps | Yes | ||
| tours | No | ||
| branch | No | ||
| closed | No | ||
| permit | No | ||
| verdicts | Yes | ||
| way_label | Yes | ||
| disclaimer | Yes | ||
| planner_link | Yes |