Yes, you can smoke at Colorado Springs Airport (COS) outdoors, on the terminal curbs and across in the short-term parking lot, at least 25 feet clear of the entrance doors. The terminal is smoke-free from the ticketing hall through to the gates, so a departing smoker steps outside first and clears the TSA checkpoint afterwards. COS is a compact single-concourse airport, which makes that round trip much quicker than it would be at a large connecting hub.
How Colorado Springs Airport Is Laid Out
COS has one terminal building on two public levels. The first floor holds baggage claim, the information centre, the airport police office and the ground-transportation curb; the second floor holds the airline ticket counters, the valet counter, the single TSA checkpoint and the concourse itself. Past the checkpoint the concourse runs as one straight line with gates 1 through 12, so there is no train, no shuttle and no second terminal to worry about.
Five airlines serve Colorado Springs — American, Allegiant, Delta, Southwest and United — and Southwest’s Cancún service gives the airport a Federal Inspection Services facility for international arrivals. The City of Colorado Springs reported 2,448,001 total passengers through COS in 2025, one percent below the 2024 record, which was itself the airport’s busiest year since 1999.
The concourse has been rebuilt gate by gate under ElevateCOS, a modernisation programme that began in September 2023 and was scheduled to conclude in 2026, bringing larger hold rooms, new flooring, new gate counters, a rebuilt food court and retail area and an updated lounge. None of the phases added an indoor smoking room; the whole building stays smoke-free.
Where to Smoke Outside the Terminal
Smoking at COS is an outdoor activity. Colorado’s Clean Indoor Air Act keeps lit cigarettes at least 25 feet from the entrances of buildings where smoking is prohibited, and the terminal is one of those buildings, so the rule of thumb is simple: get real distance between yourself and the doors before you light up.
The practical spots are the far ends of the departure-level curb on the second floor, the quieter stretches of the baggage-claim curb on the first floor, and the short-term parking lot that sits directly opposite the terminal. The airport does not publish a map of marked smoking spots, so pick a spot well away from the doorways and away from the crowds waiting at the curb, and use a proper receptacle for the butt. Keep in mind that the front curb is reserved for active loading and unloading, so leave the vehicle lanes clear and stand back on the walkway.
Colorado Springs Airport sits at about 6,200 feet against the Front Range, and none of the outdoor spots is sheltered. Summer afternoons bring quick thunderstorms and winter mornings drop well below freezing with wind coming off the mountains, so dress for the walk out.
Main Concourse (Gates 1–12)
Smoking: Outdoors only — exit through the checkpoint and move clear of the entrances. After security: The gates are smoke-free; every smoking spot is landside.
The single concourse holds Pikes Perk coffee and the Mountain View Food Court opposite gate 6, Hudson Nonstop and Hudson Evolve for grab-and-go essentials, family care rooms between gates 4 and 6 and between gates 8 and 10, a lactation room past gate 4 and the pet relief area at the end of the exit ramp. The Lounge Colorado Springs, the airport’s only lounge, is fully air-conditioned and smoke-free like the rest of the concourse. The walk from any gate back down to the landside hall takes a couple of minutes.
Landside Terminal
Smoking: Outdoors only — step out of the doors and walk clear of them. Before security: Atrevida Beer Co, Peet’s Coffee and The Atrium retail store all sit on the departure level, left and right of the centre lobby.
The landside half of the terminal is the useful part for a smoker on the way out. Atrevida Beer Co runs a full bar and brewpub menu before the checkpoint, so you can eat, drink, step outside for a cigarette and only then commit to security. Baggage claim on the first floor puts arriving passengers a few steps from the curb, which makes the first cigarette after landing an easy one.
After Security
Every place you can smoke at COS is before the TSA checkpoint. To smoke once you are airside you have to leave the secure area entirely, walk out to the curb, and screen back in afterwards. The terminal is small and there is only one checkpoint, so budget 25 to 35 minutes for the whole round trip. The airport asks passengers to arrive at least 90 minutes before departure, and two hours at peak times, so factor a smoke break into that window rather than on top of it.
If Colorado Springs is one leg of a longer itinerary, our guide to smoking during layovers covers how to judge whether a connection leaves you enough room to get outside and back. The most common onward hop is the short one north, where the outdoor smoking areas outside the Jeppesen Terminal at Denver International follow much the same landside pattern; connect the other way through Nevada and the indoor smoking lounges after security at Las Vegas Harry Reid let you stay airside for the whole layover.
E-Cigarettes and Vaping
Vaping and e-cigarettes follow the same rules as cigarettes at COS: outdoors, away from the terminal entrances, never inside the building or at the gates. Colorado folded electronic smoking devices into its Clean Indoor Air Act in 2019, which puts vapes on exactly the same footing as tobacco indoors. TSA allows vape devices and spare lithium batteries in carry-on baggage only — they cannot travel in a checked bag — and using one on board an aircraft is prohibited by federal rule.
Summary
| Area | Smoking | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal interior | No | Smoke-free from ticketing to the gates |
| Concourse, gates 1–12 | No | No smoking room; exit and re-clear security |
| The Lounge Colorado Springs | No | Air-conditioned and smoke-free |
| Outside the terminal | Yes | Departure and baggage-claim curbs, short-term lot, 25 feet clear of the doors |
| Restaurants and bars | No | All indoor areas smoke-free |
| Vaping / e-cigarettes | Outdoor only | Same rules as cigarettes |
For USA airport smoking rules, state vape rules, lighter rules at TSA, and other federal/state info, see our USA smoking guide.