Recreational Retail
Address: 27 Manitou Ave Manitou Springs, Colorado 80829
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Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) is a recreational retail dispensary located in Manitou Springs, Colorado.
Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) serves a unique slice of Colorado’s cannabis landscape. Set in Manitou Springs, Colorado, within ZIP Code 80829, the store operates in a small mountain community with outsized visitor traffic, a wellness-forward culture centered around mineral springs and open space, and an unusual regional dynamic where many Colorado Springs residents make the short drive west for adult-use cannabis. That combination makes the dispensary both a local fixture and a practical stop for out-of-town shoppers heading to landmarks like Garden of the Gods, the Manitou Incline, or the Pikes Peak region. Understanding the routes in, typical traffic patterns, local rules, and how residents actually shop helps you plan a smoother visit and know what to expect at a recreational dispensary in this part of El Paso County.
Getting to Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) is straightforward once you understand the two main ways cars flow into Manitou Springs. The quickest route from most of Colorado Springs is US‑24 West. If you’re on I‑25, take Exit 141 toward US‑24 West/Cimarron Street, stay on US‑24 as it leaves downtown Colorado Springs, and continue roughly six to eight miles to the Manitou Springs/Manitou Avenue exit. The signage appears sooner than many first-time visitors expect; as you descend toward the valley where Manitou sits, watch for the right-hand exit onto Manitou Avenue/Business US‑24. Once you’re on Manitou Avenue, you’re on the two-lane surface street that runs through town, and Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) is located along this corridor. This stretch is lined with businesses, hotels, and access points to neighborhoods and parks, and the speed limit drops considerably. Expect frequent pedestrian crossings and turning movements. When traffic is light, the time from downtown Colorado Springs to Manitou Springs is often about 12 to 18 minutes door to door; during peak weekend hours in summer, that drive can expand to 25 to 40 minutes due to congestion around the exits and the slow-moving ribbon of Manitou Avenue.
There’s also a slower, more local route that some residents prefer at busy times or when they want to avoid highway merges. West Colorado Avenue runs from Old Colorado City directly into Manitou Avenue without ever touching US‑24. You’ll pass through traffic lights and neighborhood commercial blocks, and the posted speeds are lower than the highway. This route can be the calmer option on summer afternoons when US‑24 backs up near the Manitou exit, and it’s helpful if you’re already in Old Colorado City, OCC’s Westside neighborhoods, or the Garden of the Gods Road area. Once West Colorado Avenue crosses into ZIP Code 80829, it becomes Manitou Avenue, and you continue the last segment toward the dispensary the same way you would from US‑24.
If you’re heading in from Woodland Park or the Ute Pass communities, your route runs east on US‑24, descending into Manitou Springs. The exit to Manitou Avenue is on the right; traffic tends to bunch near the bottom of the hill where local vehicles are merging with through traffic. The key is to transition to the right lane early and reduce speed for the exit, as it can feel abrupt if you’re used to highway speeds through the pass.
The ease of driving to the dispensary depends on time of day and time of year. Manitou Springs experiences pronounced seasonal surges. Late spring through early fall brings hikers to the Manitou Incline and Barr Trail, families exploring Cave of the Winds Mountain Park, travelers bound for the Pikes Peak Highway west of town, and daily traffic into Garden of the Gods just to the east. That visitor mix peaks on weekends between late morning and dusk. During those hours, the Manitou Avenue corridor becomes slow and steady rather than fast and free-flowing. Crosswalk activity and left turns into parking lots are constant. Roundabouts and signals help meter traffic, but you should budget a little extra time as you approach the business district. On weekdays, early to mid-morning is the smoothest window for driving in and finding parking, and evenings after the day’s excursion traffic subsides are usually easier than the mid-afternoon pulse. In winter, weather systems moving along the Front Range and through Ute Pass can alter the picture. Snow, ice, or sudden wind gusts occasionally slow US‑24, and CDOT sometimes reduces speeds or temporarily closes short segments for safety. Checking road conditions before you head out is smart in December through March. Summer monsoon storms can also affect the corridor with intense downpours; while closures are uncommon, heavy rain will slow traffic near low-lying areas west of Colorado Springs and around Manitou’s creeks.
Parking near Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) depends on the specific property configuration and the time you arrive. Many dispensaries along Manitou Avenue offer on-site parking, sometimes with designated entry and exit points to keep cars moving. If a lot is full, on-street and public parking options exist throughout the corridor, with posted time limits or paid parking in certain blocks, especially close to the historic downtown core. It’s worth reading signage carefully; Manitou enforces parking rules consistently during tourist season. Because this stretch also serves visitors headed to trailheads and the Cog Railway area, parking turnover can be frequent but unpredictable. Locals often plan errands in the morning when it’s easiest to get in and out without circling.
Inside the dispensary, the experience reflects Colorado’s mature retail cannabis system. Star Buds is a recognized brand in the state, and the Manitou Springs location operates under the same compliance framework that governs other dispensaries. Expect clear ID checks at the entrance and at the point of sale, with staff trained under Colorado’s Responsible Vendor program. For adult-use cannabis, you must be 21 or older and present a valid, government-issued photo ID. Out-of-state visitors are served at adult-use counters in Colorado, and passports or driver licenses meeting Colorado’s verification requirements are accepted. Colorado sets daily purchase limits on recreational cannabis, which staff will explain if you ask, but the general rules are that adults can purchase up to one ounce of cannabis flower, up to 8 grams of concentrate, or up to 800 milligrams of THC in edibles in a single transaction. Regulations evolve, and the store applies the current rules at the register, so let the budtender guide you if you’re unsure.
Manitou Springs has a strong wellness culture, and that shows up in subtle ways in the cannabis conversation. The community is known for its mineral springs and public drinking fountains maintained by the Manitou Springs Mineral Springs Foundation, which many residents view as part of the town’s health identity. The hiking and trail-running scene around the Incline and Barr Trail sets a tone of active living, and local organizations like Incline Friends and various trail coalitions regularly host volunteer days focused on sustainable recreation and safety. At the public-health level, El Paso County Public Health and the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment support cannabis education with campaigns such as Good To Know, which covers adult-use laws, storage, and youth prevention. Dispensaries throughout the region, including Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec), typically share this type of material at the counter or entrance. You’ll often see messaging about safe storage and keeping products away from kids, reminders that public consumption is prohibited, and prompts to plan a sober ride home. The store also follows packaging rules that require child-resistant containers and clear labeling, which dovetails with the community’s broader emphasis on responsible use and safety.
Locals in and around ZIP Code 80829 shop for cannabis in a way that’s shaped by regional policy. The City of Colorado Springs has historically not permitted recreational dispensaries within city limits, which means adult-use customers often drive to Manitou Springs or to other nearby jurisdictions that allow retail sales. Because of that, Manitou’s dispensaries tend to serve a mix of residents, daily commuters, and visitors, and the rhythm at the counter reflects that cadence. Regulars in nearby neighborhoods often pop in during weekday mornings or after work, when parking is easier and budtenders have more time for one-on-one guidance. Colorado Springs consumers tend to batch errands and make a single stop at a Manitou dispensary during a grocery run, a gym visit in the Westside corridor, or a family outing to Red Rock Canyon Open Space. They commonly check menus online first. Many dispensaries in Manitou post live inventory and prices on their websites, as well as on platforms like Weedmaps and Leafly. Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) offers online ordering for in-store pickup, which locals use to cut wait times. The process is simple: browse the menu, add items to your cart, submit an order, and bring your ID and payment to the pickup counter. When weekend traffic swells, placing an order ahead can easily save fifteen to thirty minutes.
Payment norms at dispensaries in Manitou Springs follow Colorado’s broader retail patterns. Cash is universally accepted and still the simplest option. Many dispensaries run cashless ATM-style debit transactions at checkout, which work like a debit swipe but round to the nearest increment and may carry a small fee. On-site ATMs are common if you need to withdraw funds. Credit cards generally aren’t an option because of banking rules. Locals tend to plan their budget with taxes in mind. Colorado applies a 15% state retail marijuana sales tax to adult-use cannabis, and Manitou Springs adds its local tax, while accessories and non-cannabis merchandise are taxed differently. Out-the-door totals will be higher than the shelf price, so it’s smart to look at the tax estimate in your cart when you order ahead.
The product mix at Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) reflects Colorado’s diverse market. A typical menu includes cannabis flower at a range of price points, from value ounces to craft-grown eighths, along with pre-rolled joints, vaporizer cartridges and disposable vapes, a wide spectrum of edibles, solventless and hydrocarbon concentrates, tinctures, topicals, and gear like batteries, lighters, and rolling papers. Locals in Manitou Springs often favor discreet formats—edibles and vape cartridges are popular with people who live in apartments or who prefer low-odor options. Pre-rolls do steady business with hikers and tourists who want simple, single-use convenience. Concentrates like live resin, rosin, and shatter appeal to experienced customers who know their terpene preferences and potency ranges. Because the Manitou corridor serves a lot of after-work and weekend shoppers, you’ll see menus with rotating daily or weekly promotions and loyalty programs. Residents who shop the corridor regularly sign up for text alerts to catch price drops on their go-to products. If you’re new to the store, asking a budtender about the best value per milligram of THC or the freshest batches that week is a useful way to cut through a long menu.
Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) also fits into a community that pays attention to safety and public spaces. Manitou Springs prohibits public consumption, which includes sidewalks, parks, open space, and trails. Local events—such as summer art fairs, the Coffin Races in the fall, or race days tied to the Incline and Pikes Peak—add both vibrancy and street closures. When those happen, traffic detours can reroute drivers off Manitou Avenue or temporarily limit left turns across the corridor. Checking the City of Manitou Springs website or event announcements before you drive in on big weekends can help you avoid surprises. The town has worked to improve walkability, and drivers should expect frequent pedestrian activity, especially near crosswalks and trailhead shuttles during peak months. That environment makes designated drivers and ride planning an important piece of responsible cannabis shopping. Budtenders routinely remind customers not to drive impaired, and signage around the entrance reinforces that message.
Weather and geography shape the flow to dispensaries in 80829 as well. The elevation in Manitou Springs is roughly 6,400 feet, and while that’s normal for residents, visitors sometimes feel the altitude. That can influence how people approach cannabis. Experienced locals often advise newcomers to start low and go slow with edibles and concentrates, and to hydrate before heading out to explore the area. Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) carries clearly labeled products with dosage information so adults can make informed choices. If you’re returning to Colorado Springs or continuing west into the mountains after your purchase, keep products sealed in their original containers and store them out of reach of the driver, which is part of Colorado’s open container rules for marijuana. It’s common for locals to keep a zipper bag or lockbox in the trunk, particularly if they’re picking up cannabis before heading to trailheads or family events where public consumption isn’t allowed.
The rhythm of a typical shopping day in this dispensary district runs in waves. Early morning hours bring local workers and residents, lunchtime sees a mix of service-industry staff and tourists, and mid-afternoon to early evening is the busiest stretch in high season. Wait times are manageable most of the year, but on peak summer weekends or holiday periods, a short line at the entrance is normal. Online ordering and express pickup are the local workaround, especially for Colorado Springs customers popping over after work. Because the community places a premium on decorum in mixed-use areas, staff keep the process efficient and compliant, which means scanning IDs and verifying orders carefully. Patience at the door goes a long way when the shop is humming.
Community health themes in Manitou Springs also intersect with cannabis beyond signage. The town’s focus on mineral springs, fresh air, and trail access has fostered a broader culture of mindful recreation. Trail safety briefings, Leave No Trace messaging, and volunteer days are part of living here. While Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) is a retail business, it operates within that ethos and aligns with Colorado’s harm-reduction education. You may see brochures about safe storage devices, information on how to talk to teens about cannabis, and tips on avoiding accidental ingestion by pets. El Paso County Public Health periodically promotes safe disposal and storage efforts, and dispensaries participate by providing compliant exit packaging and pointing customers to official resources. That alignment doesn’t make the dispensary a health clinic, but it does reflect the local expectation that adult-use cannabis is sold with safety in mind.
For visitors planning a combined day of sightseeing and shopping, geography matters. Garden of the Gods lies just east of town, easily reached via Manitou Avenue to 31st Street or Ridge Road connections; the Pikes Peak Cog Railway operates to the south off Ruxton Avenue in Manitou; and the Pikes Peak Highway toll gate sits farther west along US‑24. It’s common for drivers to structure the route so that they stop at the dispensary on the way back to lodging, rather than on the way out to a hike or a scenic train. That approach reduces the chance of leaving purchases in a hot car or running afoul of no-consumption zones on public lands. The community expectation is clear: enjoy legal cannabis at a private residence or another lawful private space, and avoid bringing it into parks, trailheads, or public shuttles.
If you are arriving from Denver or the northern Front Range, the drive is largely interstate and highway. Take I‑25 south to Exit 141, follow US‑24 West, and use the Manitou Avenue/Business US‑24 exit as described earlier. Off-peak, that final segment takes just a few minutes; during Saturday midday in summer, allow extra time for the last two miles as the highway compresses local traffic onto a slower surface street. Drivers unfamiliar with the corridor sometimes overshoot the exit; if that happens, there are additional interchanges west of town where you can turn around and approach the Manitou Avenue corridor from the opposite direction with minimal delay.
What sets a store like Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) apart in this corridor is continuity and clarity. As a known Colorado brand, it offers a predictable, category-spanning menu across flower, pre-rolls, vapes, edibles, and concentrates, with transparent pricing and potency information. That predictability matters to locals who don’t want surprises when they make a targeted trip for cannabis. Budtenders in Manitou are used to serving both first-timers and seasoned consumers, and they tend to be adept at translating the menu into plain language: what a “live” concentrate means in practice, how a dosed gummy is divided, how to compare half-ounce values, or how terpene profiles might influence your experience. If you’re focused on speed, the staff can move you through pickup quickly. If you’re in discovery mode, they’ll steer you to current batches and explain differences without hype.
Because the area around Manitou Springs is a magnet for events, there are days when traffic patterns change dramatically. Street festivals in downtown Manitou and races tied to the Incline or Pikes Peak often trigger rolling closures or reroutes along Manitou Avenue and connecting streets. On those days, the simplest way to reach dispensaries can be to stay on US‑24 to a farther exit and come back along the frontage, or to swing down from the Colorado Avenue side and approach from the east. Apps and GPS usually reflect these detours, but local drivers also watch the City of Manitou Springs announcements and CDOT advisories. Winter holiday weekends are quieter for hiking but busy for dining and shopping, which still affects parking near the corridor. Locals adapt by going before lunch or after dinner, when both the roads and the stores are calmer.
One of the frequently asked questions in this region is whether dispensaries in Manitou Springs offer delivery. Local rules have limited adult-use delivery in many parts of El Paso County. As a result, the prevailing pattern in ZIP Code 80829 remains in-store shopping or online ordering with counter pickup. That’s why the flow of cars along Manitou Avenue includes a steady stream of quick stops. The lack of delivery also reinforces the importance of designated drivers and sober planning, themes you see reinforced by public-health messaging and store staff.
If you’re new to the area and want to fit a stop at Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) into a day of exploring, the most seamless approach is to time your visit for morning or early evening, use US‑24 for the approach but be ready to swap to West Colorado Avenue/Manitou Avenue if the exit looks backed up, and place an online order first so your items are ready. Bring a valid ID and the form of payment you prefer, keep your purchase sealed in its child-resistant packaging until you’re at a private residence, and remember that public use isn’t allowed in Manitou Springs, Colorado Springs, or on nearby public lands. If you’re staying within ZIP Code 80829, many lodging providers are clear about their own property rules; check those before you buy.
The bottom line for cannabis shoppers is that Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) combines a practical location on Manitou Avenue with the systems that make a high-traffic dispensary work: reliable online menus, order-ahead pickup, trained staff, and compliance baked into every part of the visit. The store’s setting in a health-conscious, outdoors-focused community means you’ll encounter consistent reminders about safe storage and responsible use, echoing local and state initiatives. And the roadways that carry you there—US‑24 and the Manitou Avenue corridor—are easy to navigate if you plan around peak times and use the route that suits your starting point.
For residents of Colorado Springs and the Westside, for visitors exploring Garden of the Gods and the Pikes Peak region, and for travelers tracing the Front Range, the dispensary options in Manitou Springs provide an accessible and compliant way to purchase legal cannabis. Star Buds - Manitou Springs (Rec) is part of that fabric, serving adults in ZIP Code 80829 with the straightforward retail experience people expect from established dispensaries. Understanding the local traffic routes, neighborhood rhythms, and community expectations turns a simple stop into a smooth one, whether you’re picking up a familiar edible, exploring a new strain of flower, or asking a budtender to explain the difference between rosin and live resin. In a town where wellness and recreation are everyday language, the cannabis conversation fits right in—clear, informed, and grounded in the way Manitou Springs moves.
| Sunday | 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM |
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| Monday | 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM |
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| Thursday | 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM |
| Friday | 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM |
| Saturday | 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM |
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