Colorado Springs is an outdoor city first and foremost. Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak are the headline acts — one is free and takes an afternoon, the other takes a full day. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, America's highest-elevation zoo on a forested mountainside, rewards a half-day with or without kids. Seven Falls, a seven-tiered waterfall in a narrow canyon, makes a good short excursion. Old Colorado City, the historic strip on West Colorado Avenue, is the best place for an evening out. The US Air Force Academy north of town is open to visitors and worth seeing for the remarkable Cadet Chapel alone. The Arkansas River to the south offers whitewater rafting from gentle family floats to Class V runs through the Royal Gorge.