There is a widely repeated idea that the Pikes Peak Highway shifts to a fall schedule the day after Labor Day. It is close enough to be useful and wrong in a way that can cost you a couple of hours of daylight if you plan around it.

Here is what the posted schedule actually does, and what genuinely changes when the summer season winds down.

The Highway’s Hours Change on October 1

The City of Colorado Springs posts the highway’s 2026 operating hours as a single block from May 22 through September 30:

  • Uphill gates open: 7:30 a.m.
  • Last entry: 6 p.m.
  • Summit closes: 7 p.m.
  • Downhill gates close: 8 p.m.

That schedule holds through the end of September. The change comes on October 1, when the uphill gates start opening at 9:00 a.m. and hold that later start through the Thursday before Memorial Day.

The practical consequence is worth stating plainly, because it runs opposite to how most people assume shoulder seasons work. September is one of the better months to drive this road on a full schedule — you keep the 7:30 a.m. gate opening and the 6 p.m. last entry, with September crowds instead of August ones. October is when the day gets meaningfully shorter at the front end, and a 9 a.m. opening removes the early-morning window that alpine drivers and photographers usually want.

Labor Day 2026 falls on Monday, September 7. Nothing in the highway’s posted hours changes on September 8.

Timed Entry Runs Through September 30

The Summer Timed Entry Permit — $2 per vehicle — applies from the Friday before Memorial Day through September 30. That is the same boundary as the summer hours, not the Labor Day boundary.

So if you are driving in mid-September, plan on the permit. If you are driving in October, you are past that requirement and into the later-opening winter schedule instead.

What Actually Changes After Labor Day

Two things do.

The North Slope Recreation Area shifts its hours. The reservoir area partway up the highway runs 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. from the Friday before Memorial Day through Labor Day, then moves to 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. from the Tuesday after Labor Day through September 30, and to 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from October 1 until it closes for the season on the third Sunday in October — October 18 in 2026. If your fall plan includes stopping at Crystal Creek or the Catamounts rather than only summiting, this is the schedule that governs your day, and it is a different one from the highway’s.

The crowds thin. This is the real reason to come in fall, and it is not on any posted schedule. Summer weekend traffic on a road with limited pullouts and a mandatory brake check on the descent is its own kind of experience. September removes most of that while leaving the full operating day intact.

Admission Rates Do Not Drop

The posted rates apply from May 1 through November 30, so there is no shoulder-season discount:

  • Adults (16+): $18 per person
  • Children (6–15): $8 per person
  • Carload, up to 5 passengers: $65 per vehicle
  • Additional adults: $13 each
  • Additional children: $5 each

For a group of four adults, the carload rate is the obvious call. For two people it is not — do the arithmetic before you get to the gate rather than at it.

The RV and Trailer Rules Do Not Change, and They Catch People Out

This is the section that matters most for anyone reading this site with a rig in the driveway, and the rules are stricter than most visitors expect.

No pull-behind trailers or campers of any size. That prohibition is absolute and explicitly includes bicycle and motorcycle trailers. There is no length exemption, no “small utility trailer is fine” allowance. If you are towing, you are leaving the trailer somewhere below.

RVs and buses face hard dimension limits. Wheelbase cannot exceed 19 feet (228 inches), and overall length cannot exceed 24 feet. Most Class A and Class C motorhomes fail one or both of those tests. A Class B van conversion generally passes; a 30-foot Class C does not.

Transmission requirements apply to ordinary cars too. The vehicle must have a “1” or “L” shifter position. Hybrids with a “B” position are accepted. Vehicles with “S” or “M” shifters have to be able to demonstrate a lock into first gear. This is not paperwork — it is the mechanism by which you descend without cooking your brakes, and staff can deny access to a vehicle that cannot do it.

ATVs, OHVs, non-compliant mopeds and scooters, skateboards, and longboards are all prohibited. Staff retain discretion to turn away any vehicle that does not comply.

None of this relaxes in fall. If anything, a shoulder-season trip is when people are most likely to try their luck, assuming a quieter road means quieter enforcement. It does not.

Descending Is the Part That Goes Wrong

The climb is straightforward. The descent is where mountain-driving inexperience shows up.

Drive down in low gear or low range and let the transmission do the work rather than riding the brakes. Highway rangers conduct a brake temperature check at Glen Cove during peak periods, and being sent to cool your brakes there for a while is a routine outcome for drivers who braked their way down from the summit.

Everything in our high-altitude RV driving guide applies here in concentrated form — engine power falls off with elevation, and the summit sits above 14,000 feet.

Weather Is the Real Fall Variable

The published hours describe a normal day. Fall on a fourteener does not reliably supply normal days. Snow, ice, and high wind can close the road above a given point or entirely, with little notice, and the closure can happen while you are already partway up.

Check conditions before you leave rather than after you have driven to the tollgate. The City maintains a conditions line at 719-385-7325, and the current-conditions page is the authoritative source on whether the road is open to the summit that morning.

Dress for the summit rather than for the parking lot. A pleasant 70-degree afternoon in Manitou Springs at 6,300 feet is routinely near or below freezing with wind at 14,000-plus.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do the Pikes Peak Highway hours change right after Labor Day?

No. The posted 2026 summer schedule — 7:30 a.m. uphill opening, 6 p.m. last entry, 8 p.m. downhill close — runs from May 22 through September 30. The uphill gates begin opening at 9 a.m. starting October 1.

Do I need a timed entry permit in the fall?

The $2 Summer Timed Entry Permit applies from the Friday before Memorial Day through September 30. October visits fall outside that window.

Can I take an RV or tow a trailer up Pikes Peak?

Trailers and pull-behind campers are prohibited at any size. RVs and buses must have a wheelbase no greater than 19 feet and an overall length no greater than 24 feet, which excludes most motorhomes larger than a van conversion.

When does the North Slope Recreation Area close?

The third Sunday in October — October 18 in 2026. Its hours drop to 9 a.m.–4 p.m. from October 1 until closing.

Sources: City of Colorado Springs — Pikes Peak Hours and Rates, Vehicle Restrictions, North Slope Recreation Area.