June brings the longest days of the year and the full summer machine: outdoor concert series, festival weekends, and the race up the mountain that put this city on the international motorsport map.
It's also the last month before the afternoon monsoon pattern sets in — June mornings AND afternoons are usually safe for exposed hikes.
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb — the second-oldest motor race in America — sends cars up the 156-turn highway to the 14,115-foot summit in late June. Spectating takes planning (spots on the mountain require early entry), but race week energizes the whole city.
Summer concert series light up across the region in June — from neighborhood park series to the big outdoor stages. The events calendar fills fastest this month; the tonight and this-weekend pages earn their keep.
June is when the high-elevation hiking around Pikes Peak melts out. The Crags, up behind the Peak near Divide, is the classic first big-view hike of the season, and rafting season on the Arkansas River near Cañon City hits its snowmelt peak.
Happening right now
An annual automobile and motorcycle race to the summit of Pikes Peak, run since 1916 — the second-oldest motor race in the United States. It's typically held in late June.
Early June is usually dry; the daily afternoon monsoon thunderstorm pattern typically arrives closer to July. Even so, mountain weather always favors morning starts.
The Arkansas River through Bighorn Sheep Canyon and the Royal Gorge — about an hour from the Springs — typically peaks with snowmelt in June and stays runnable through summer.