A new café has opened at the base of the Manitou Incline, promising “earthly nourishment for the upward bound.”

A place for Incline hikers to prepare for their climb or rest their bones, kick back and enjoy a beverage and a bite to eat after climbing 2,000 vertical feet in less than a mile, IncliNation Café and the soon-to-come Bailout Spa & Groove Lounge will be “the ultimate basecamp for the Manitou Incline community,” said co-founder Christel Aime.

IncliNation Café celebrated its grand opening on May 8 at 124 Ruxton Ave., about a three-minute walk west from Manitou Avenue where it meets U.S. 24, Manitou’s main drag.

Visitors are welcomed into a bright space complete with an ordering counter, indoor and patio seating that overlooks Ruxton Creek, and a stage for musical and other community performances.

Lively artwork creates a warm, inviting atmosphere inside the 4,000-square-foot café area. Local artists Manuel Pulido and Natalia Pulido have painted a colorful mural on the café’s eastern wall depicting a magpie, which can symbolize happiness and good fortune, and a hummingbird, which symbolizes healing. A piece of original artwork created by co-founder Kat Tudor hangs near the front counter, depicting the Golden Bear of Ute legend and the creation of Tavá Mountain, which means Sun Mountain, the Ute name for Pikes Peak.

Aime, an entrepreneur and nurse by trade, knows firsthand the toll climbing roughly 2,800 steps up the Incline can take on the body. On New Year’s Eve in 2021, he became the third person to record 1,000 laps in a year on the Incline. The effort required to summit, once or 1,000 times, “demands a proper before and after,” the website states.

Aime envisions IncliNation Café as a place where people – Incliners or not – can find relaxation, healthy habits and the pleasure of good food and good company.

“We’ve embraced that,” he said.

Patrons can order from a plethora of café favorites made with locally sourced ingredients. Varieties of coffee, tea, hot chocolate and kava, a root plant originating in the South Pacific Islands known for its sedative and euphoric effects, are on the menu. Boba, flavored milk, food and pastries are also available to order, including bagels, breakfast burritos, croissants and more.

As the café will be a “launchpad” for Incliners, the second part of the business, the Bailout Spa & Groove lounge, will serve as their “landing pad,” said Aime and his neighbor and co-founder Tudor, owner of SunWater Spa in Manitou Springs.

“The idea was that when you want to bail out of the trail, you can come and recover at the café and spa. Grab a boba or a tea and have a foot soak,” Tudor said. “If your feet feel good, then the rest of your body is probably going to feel a whole lot better, too!”

Envisioned to be built within 2,000 square feet of space next to the café, at 128 Ruxton Ave., the foot and leg spa will utilize two mineral springs located underneath the building, Aime said.

Emphasizing treatments for Incliners just coming off the mountain, The Bailout will offer post-hike massages, saunas, red light therapy, yoga, soundbaths and “late night grooves,” the website advertises, to round out the experience.

Currently in the design stage, the co-founders hope to have The Bailout spa open by the end of the year or next spring.

Tudor also envisions a retail space within the café and spa where patrons can purchase locally made art and goods.

To make the experience even more immersive, Aime developed an Incline Trackers app so hikers can log their climbs, track their pace and earn exclusive rewards at the café and spa. The café even has a recording studio so Pikes Peak visitors can publicly share and enshrine their experiences on America’s Mountain.

“This is a wonderful space where the community can gather, relax and showcase the arts, from fine arts to dance and music,” Tudor said.

IncliNation Café is open daily from 5:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Hikers can book their Incline reservations and find parking and free shuttle information directly on the website at inclinationbailout.com/visit.