Penrose Heritage Museum (The “Carriage Museum”)

Last time we visited the Penrose Heritage Museum at The Broadmoor, it was called the El Pomar Carriage museum and they were working on an addition featuring the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.  We finally made it back this spring to see the new exhibit.

We weren’t disappointed!  The Pikes Peak Hill Climb Experience was very well done and fun to walk through.

My son especially enjoyed the new exhibit, naturally.  (He really wanted to watch the hour-long documentary that was playing, and we didn’t have time to, but you might want to plan for that if you have someone that really likes that kind of thing.)

I guess I didn’t get a photo of it, but they had the wreckage of a car that had a pretty incredible crash a couple of years ago, along with a video playing of the crash and an interview with the driver stressing the importance of wearing seatbelts.

The original part of the museum is great to visit, too:

If you like to read historical fiction and have wondered what about the difference between a gig and a phaeton and all of those other vehicles of times past, this is a great place to go get a visual of many of those types of carriages!

Upstairs, they have some Native American and other historical artifacts, as well as a video playing about local history.  (If you’re not into racing, you can watch that one while your car buffs are watching the racing video!)  My post from 2014 has some photos of the upstairs of the museum.

The curators at this museum are enthusiastic about their job and eager to make your visit enjoyable.  They have great stories to tell about local history – just ask a question and they’ll tell you all sorts of fascinating information.

The museum is free, and if you park in the parking garage next to it, the museum will validate your parking ticket so you don’t have to pay.

It’s located at 11 Lake Circle, and you can visit their website for more information.

Related: Very close to the Penrose Heritage Museum is another great attraction, the World Figure Skating Museum and Hall of Fame.