On the adventure trail in Colorado

But there is one adrenalin sport I’m quite content to watch from the sidelines.

I reach Colorado Springs in time for the 100th anniversary of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Petrol, diesel-powered and electric cars and motorbikes, quads and sidecars all take part. The pit lane has all the anticipation of a Grand Prix as drivers prepare to leave for their time trial, and spectators lining the course are treated to brief glimpses of each competitor as they fly by, taking on the twists and turns of the 14-mile uphill course all the way to the 4,302-metre summit. Their speed is terrifying. The course record on four wheels is 8.13 minutes; on two wheels, 9.52 minutes.

Businessman Spencer Penrose established the Hill Climb in 1916. He was also the founder of the Broadmoor Hotel, located on the edge of Colorado Springs, boasting 779 rooms, three golf courses and 18 restaurants.

Dinner in the Broadmoor’s La Taverne awakens a carnivorous streak in me. Its wagyu beef comes from Eagles Nest Ranch 15 miles down the road. The herd’s 98% full-blooded heritage and breeding, its antibiotic and growth hormone-free diet, daily massages and beer rations produces the tastiest, most tender meat I have ever stuck a fork in.

The stately Broadmoor has many attributes but it can’t match the celestial view where I am staying at Garden of the Gods Club & Resort. This backs on to Garden of the Gods, a public park and National Natural Landmark. The gods have conspired to create an achingly beautiful view – towering sandstone rock formations, with snow-flecked mountains (including Pikes Peak) behind, which becomes perfection when framed with blue skies. If the Flintstones lived and breathed, they wouldn’t look out of place here.

Colorado residents are certainly not starved for views. The Rocky Mountains, part of the Continental Divide, run north to south, and 54 of the state’s peaks are “Fourteeners” (higher than 14,000ft). Even from the motorways, the views are pretty impressive, but once we’ve paid the $20 fee to enter Rocky Mountain national park, I start running out of superlatives to describe them.

One of four national parks in Colorado, Rocky Mountain was the third most visited national park in the whole of the US last year, leapfrogging Yellowstone and Yosemite, with a 21% increase in visitation.

“Scenic grandeur, watchable wildlife and recreational opportunities are the top reasons to visit,” says Kyle Patterson, public information officer for Rocky Mountain. We are late to meet her because we have been distracted by elk, moose and marmot spotting along Trail Ridge Road, which cuts through the park. It’s the highest continuous paved road in the US, peaking at 3,713 metres. Patterson advises that September weekends are the busiest time, as the fall colour show combined with elk rutting rituals make for a dramatic drive through the park.

Apart from campsites, there is no accommodation in Rocky Mountain national park. Estes Park, just outside the park boundary, is an official “base camp”. This lakeside town has all the amenities you need in a scenic setting, and the absence of chain shops makes it all the more charming. After ghost stories over breakfast at The Stanley, the hotel that inspired Stephen King to write The Shining, we discover the town’s Open Air Adventure Park. I become an aerial monkey as I navigate my way around the double layer structure, which has rope bridges, aerial tightropes, swinging log steps and moving platforms, suspended both 10ft and 21ft above the ground.

Enjoying the great outdoors is thirsty work, and as luck would have it, Colorado is one of the US’s top craft brewing hotspots. Beer enthusiasts who despair at the prevalence of Bud Light on American drinks menus can tickle their taste buds with a bunch of creative ales from independent brewers.

One Colorado adventure operator, At Your Pace, has combined outdoor exercise with beer sampling. A bike and brew tour in Breckenridge introduces me to the Broken Compass Brewing Company; where the girlie beer drinker in me falls instantly in love with the Coconut Porter before redressing the balance with a Chili Pepper Pale Ale. “Our brewers get to have fun and play because they’re not trying to meet demand for canning and bottling,” explains the bartender, as I take a pew on a recycled ski chair lift.

Breck is, after all, famous as a winter ski destination, but I find myself thinking summer is just as enchanting, as I cycle to Breckenridge Distillery, which claims the title as the world's highest distillery, to sample the purest spirits mountain water can create. Such is the life-affirming effect of the outdoors in Colorado that even drinking alcohol feels, dare I say it, healthy here.

Book it: Frontier Travel offers two nights in Denver, two nights at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs with zip lining, seven nights at Tumbling River Ranch, three nights in Breckenridge with bike/brewery tour, two nights at the Stanley in Estes Park, with flights and car hire from £5,275pp in August.