Making Friends in Colorado Springs, CO: A Guide for Adults (2026)

Colorado Springs sits at the foot of Pikes Peak with 300 days of sunshine a year and an outdoor culture that shapes most of its social life. If you move here without a foothold in the outdoor community, it can feel like everyone already has their people — their climbing partners, their trail running crew, their mountain bike group.

The good news: those communities are not actually closed. They just require showing up.

The Outdoor Entry Point

The most reliable way to build social connections in Colorado Springs is through outdoor activity. The trail running community is active and welcoming to newcomers — local running stores host group runs, and organizations like the Pikes Peak Road Runners hold organized events through the year.

Rock climbing is similarly social here. The climbing gym scene includes Movement Colorado Springs and others, and the in-gym community tends to be self-organizing — regular climbers notice regular climbers.

Garden of the Gods has free yoga sessions in summer. Cheyenne Mountain State Park has a trail stewardship program. Red Rock Canyon hosts volunteer days. These are structured entry points that don’t require cold-approaching a group of friends.

Non-Outdoor Paths

If outdoor activity isn’t your thing, the Old Colorado City arts district and downtown Tejon Street have bars and restaurants with consistent regulars. The Colorado Springs Philharmonic and local theater scene anchor a smaller but dedicated arts community.

Local breweries — Brass Brewing, Trinity Brewing, Atrevida Beer — each have distinct personalities and regulars, and craft beer culture has always been one of the more socially porous communities for newcomers.

The Remote Worker Factor

Colorado Springs has absorbed a significant number of remote workers who relocated for the outdoor lifestyle and lower cost than Denver. These newcomers are actively looking to build social networks, which means the social ecosystem is less static than it looks from the outside. Seeking out remote worker communities — coworking spaces, local Slack groups, digital nomad meetups — can connect you with people in the same situation.

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Q&A

Is Colorado Springs a good place to make friends as an adult?

Colorado Springs is friendlier than its reputation suggests, but it has a strong outdoors filter — much of the social life here is organized around hiking, climbing, mountain biking, and trail running. If outdoor activity is part of your life, entry points are everywhere. If it isn't, you'll need to find community through other channels like the arts scene, local breweries, or religious organizations, which are also active in the Springs.

Q&A

How does the military community affect making friends in Colorado Springs?

Colorado Springs has one of the largest military populations of any US city, with Fort Carson, Peterson Space Force Base, and NORAD nearby. Military families tend to socialize within their own networks, and many have short posting rotations. This means the civilian social ecosystem is somewhat separate, and some friendships you build may relocate within a year or two.

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What are the best ways to meet people in Colorado Springs?

The Pikes Peak region has excellent running clubs, including groups organized around the Barr Trail and Garden of the Gods. Red Rock Canyon Open Space and Cheyenne Mountain State Park draw consistent communities of hikers and trail runners. The climbing gym scene (Movement, Earth Treks) is socially active. The downtown Tejon Street corridor has an established bar and restaurant scene for lower-key socializing.

Is Colorado Springs growing fast enough to affect the social scene?

Yes — the city has grown substantially over the past decade. That growth brings a constant stream of newcomers who are also looking to build social connections, which works in your favor. There's less of the insular, established-clique problem you see in some slower-growth cities.

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