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Your comprehensive guide to Colorado Springs' premier cannabis dispensaries, from budget-friendly options to premium craft selections
Colorado Springs made history in April 2025 when recreational marijuana sales officially launched, transforming Colorado’s second-largest city into a thriving cannabis destination. After years of resistance from city leaders, voters approved recreational sales in November 2024, opening the market to adults 21 and older. Whether you’re seeking top-shelf flower, artisan concentrates, or simply exploring the newly legal market, you’ll find exceptional options throughout the Springs. For guidance on understanding cannabis strain differences, Herb’s educational resources can help inform your dispensary visit before you shop.
Native Roots Academy stands as one of Colorado’s largest dispensary chains, combining convenience with competitive pricing at their Colorado Springs location. This unique “Gas & Grass” concept allows customers to fuel up their vehicles while shopping for premium cannabis products, creating a truly one-stop experience.
The Academy Boulevard location serves both medical and recreational customers in a welcoming environment that prioritizes efficiency without sacrificing service quality. Native Roots earned its reputation through consistent product quality and knowledgeable staff who understand both therapeutic and recreational cannabis needs.
What Makes Them Special:
Best For: Customers seeking convenience and variety, medical patients wanting reliable access, recreational shoppers looking for competitive pricing on quality products
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Hightops Dispensary has served the Colorado Springs cannabis community since 2010, building a loyal customer base through commitment to quality products and personalized service. Operating two convenient locations, Hightops combines over a decade of medical marijuana expertise with newly available recreational options.
Formerly known as Pain Management Solutions, this dispensary earned its reputation by prioritizing patient care and product education. Their curated menu features professionally selected flower, concentrates, edibles, and more, all available for online ordering and in-store pickup.
What Makes Them Special:
Best For: Customers who value experience and reliability, medical patients seeking compassionate care, shoppers wanting curated selections from knowledgeable budtenders
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Apothecary Farms pioneered concentrate-focused dispensaries in Colorado, establishing itself as the state’s first extract-driven cannabis retailer. With two Colorado Springs locations plus stores in Denver and Pueblo, Apothecary Farms built its reputation on producing connoisseur-quality concentrates in state-of-the-art facilities.
This dispensary processes all concentrates in-house at their manufacturing facilities, ensuring quality control from cultivation through extraction. Their signature Ambrosia live resin products have earned loyal followings among concentrate enthusiasts seeking premium cannabis experiences at competitive prices.
What Makes Them Special:
Best For: Concentrate connoisseurs, medical patients seeking potent relief, budget-conscious shoppers wanting premium quality at competitive prices
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Silver Stem Rockrimmon brings premium soil-grown cannabis to northwest Colorado Springs near Garden of the Gods. This dispensary proudly serves both recreational and medical customers with a commitment to pesticide-free cultivation and hand-watered, hand-pruned flower that represents cannabis done right.
Silver Stem’s mission centers on delivering the finest quality cannabis products in a safe, professional environment while educating customers about responsible consumption. Their no-shortcuts approach to cultivation produces consistently excellent flower alongside top-shelf concentrates, edibles, and vapes.
What Makes Them Special:
Best For: Quality-conscious consumers who prioritize organic cultivation, medical patients seeking pesticide-free options, recreational shoppers near Garden of the Gods area
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Star Buds Colorado Springs operates as a premier cannabis boutique offering premium cannabis in an upscale retail environment. Located at 510 E Pikes Peak Ave, this dispensary combines quality products with exceptional customer service and extensive promotional deals that make premium cannabis accessible.
Star Buds revolutionized cannabis retail by creating sophisticated shopping experiences that feel more like boutique retail than traditional dispensaries. Their knowledgeable staff provides expert guidance through extensive selections of flower, concentrates, edibles, and vapes from Colorado’s top cultivators.
What Makes Them Special:
Best For: Shoppers seeking boutique retail experiences, customers who appreciate promotional deals, cannabis enthusiasts wanting access to premium brands
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Maggie’s Farm represents Colorado’s original outdoor-grown, Clean Green Certified cannabis company, operating since 2010. This southern Colorado leader grows sun-grown flower from seed in custom-mixed soil, spring-watered and slow-cured for quality without pesticides or growth hormones.
Since 2013, Maggie’s Farm has earned more customer first-place votes in Colorado Springs’ Best of Awards than many other local cannabis companies, a testament to their focus on natural cultivation and customer satisfaction. Their friendly budtenders aim to help each customer find products that match their needs and budget.
What Makes Them Special:
Best For: Organic cannabis enthusiasts, environmentally conscious consumers, medical patients seeking naturally grown products, award-winning quality seekers
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Pure Cannabis operates three convenient Colorado Springs locations delivering high-quality, lab-tested cannabis products with strong focus on safety, affordability, and customer satisfaction. This local provider emphasizes education and quality assurance, ensuring every product meets rigorous testing standards for potency and contaminants.
Pure’s knowledgeable staff assists customers in navigating diverse selections of concentrates, edibles, topicals, and flower, all cultivated with commitment to safety and effectiveness. Their competitive pricing makes quality cannabis accessible while maintaining high standards.
What Makes Them Special:
Best For: Budget-conscious shoppers seeking quality, first-time cannabis users needing education, medical patients wanting tested products, customers valuing multiple convenient locations
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Elevations Dispensary has provided premium medical cannabis to Colorado Springs since the early 2000s, recently expanding to serve recreational customers. This dispensary distinguishes itself by growing its own flower, ensuring purity, potency, and consistency that only vertical integration provides.
With over two decades of experience, Elevations’ expert team helps patients and recreational customers find the right products for comfort, relief, and overall wellness. Their commitment to locally grown cannabis means every purchase supports Colorado cultivation and jobs.
What Makes Them Special:
Best For: Medical patients seeking therapeutic relief, customers who value locally grown cannabis, recreational users wanting expert guidance, quality-focused shoppers
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NuVue Pharma brings unique cultivation expertise from award-winning facilities in Pueblo to their Colorado Springs location. Founded by Neurologist Dr. Malik M. Hasan in 2015, NuVue operates state-of-the-art hydroponic indoor cultivation and climate-controlled greenhouses producing exclusive strains unavailable elsewhere.
This dispensary combines medical expertise with recreational access, offering carefully cultivated cannabis processed in NuVue’s own extraction facilities. Daily deals, happy hour specials, and loyalty rewards make premium cannabis affordable while maintaining exceptional quality standards.
What Makes Them Special:
Best For: Medical patients seeking physician-founded expertise, concentrate enthusiasts wanting premium extracts, recreational shoppers valuing cultivation quality, customers seeking exclusive genetics
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The Healing Canna represents Colorado Springs’ most professional medical marijuana center since 2009, recently expanding to serve recreational customers. This dispensary provides clean, safe medical-grade marijuana in comfortable environments with personalized, compassionate care from informed staff.
The Healing Canna features patient-viewable grow rooms allowing customers to watch cannabis cultivation from day one through harvest. Their commitment to clean growing practices produces flowers free of molds, pests, and harsh chemicals, perfectly manicured and cured for optimal quality.
What Makes Them Special:
Best For: Medical marijuana patients, customers wanting cultivation transparency, recreational users seeking medical-grade quality, shoppers who value compassionate service
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Colorado Springs occupies a unique position between Denver’s established recreational market and Pueblo’s budget-focused dispensaries. Pricing typically sits slightly higher than Pueblo but lower than Denver’s premium locations, with eighths ranging $25-$55 compared to Pueblo’s ultra-competitive rates or Denver’s $35-$70 premiums. The Springs market emphasizes quality over quantity, with most dispensaries maintaining strong customer service standards developed through years serving medical patients. Since recreational sales only launched in April 2025, the market remains less saturated than Denver, meaning shorter wait times and more personalized service. However, product variety may not yet match Denver’s extensive selection as the recreational market continues maturing.
Yes, any adult 21 or older with valid government-issued identification can purchase recreational cannabis in Colorado Springs regardless of residency. Acceptable forms of ID include driver’s licenses, state ID cards, passports, or military identification from any U.S. state or country. Purchase limits remain the same for tourists and residents: up to one ounce of flower, eight grams of concentrate, or products containing up to 800 milligrams of THC per transaction. However, tourists must remember that transporting cannabis across state lines remains illegal under federal law, even if traveling to another legal state. Cannabis purchased in Colorado Springs must be consumed within Colorado on private property with owner permission.
Medical marijuana cardholders enjoy several significant benefits in Colorado Springs’ dual medical–recreational market. Medical patients pay substantially lower taxes—medical cannabis is generally subject to the 2.9% state sales tax, compared to recreational purchases, which incur a 15% state retail marijuana sales tax plus additional local taxes and a 15% excise tax at the wholesale level. Purchase limits also often favor medical patients, who may buy larger quantities of certain products each day (for example, up to 2 ounces of flower versus 1 ounce for recreational customers), along with access to higher-potency products that may be restricted on the recreational side. Many Colorado Springs dispensaries offer medical-only deals, member pricing, and loyalty rewards that reduce overall costs for regular consumers. For patients using cannabis regularly under a physician’s supervision, these combined tax and pricing advantages can significantly lower long-term expenses.
Colorado Springs dispensaries generally offer competitive pricing compared to delivery services, especially after factoring in delivery fees, minimum order requirements, and gratuities. Most local dispensaries run regular promotional deals rivaling or beating delivery service prices—Pure Cannabis offers ounces at $120 and Star Buds features extensive monthly promotions on flower, concentrates, and edibles. In-store shopping also provides immediate product inspection, personalized budtender guidance, and avoids the 30-60 minute delivery wait times. However, delivery services offer convenience for customers with mobility issues or those living in outlying areas. Checking Herb’s dispensary listings for current Colorado Springs deals helps identify the best value whether shopping in-store or ordering delivery.
Most Colorado Springs dispensaries offer first-time customer discounts ranging from 10-20% off entire purchases. Native Roots, Hightops, and Apothecary Farms all provide first-time deals, while The Dispensary Colorado Springs North offers an exceptional 50% off your first ounce when signing up for their plant count program. Star Buds includes first-visit discounts as part of their free loyalty program, and many dispensaries stack first-time deals with existing daily specials for maximum savings. To optimize your first dispensary experience, research current promotions on Herb’s dispensary pages before visiting, arrive with questions about product types and effects you’re seeking, and don’t hesitate to ask budtenders about combining discounts or finding products matching your budget.
First-time recreational cannabis shoppers in Colorado Springs should expect a welcoming, judgment-free environment designed to help newcomers navigate the experience confidently. Upon entering, staff will check your ID to verify you’re 21 or older before allowing access to the sales floor. Budtenders—cannabis retail specialists—will ask about your desired effects, preferred consumption methods (smoking, vaping, edibles, topicals), and experience level to recommend appropriate products. Don’t feel pressured to purchase immediately; quality dispensaries encourage questions and provide education about indica versus sativa effects, THC potency, and consumption best practices. Start with lower-THC products and work up gradually, especially with edibles which take 1-2 hours to take effect. Most dispensaries accept cash only or debit cards with ATM fees, so come prepared.
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