After waving goodbye to the beauty of Great Sand Dunes, my mom and I continued making our way north back toward Montana.
Our next stop was just outside Colorado Springs at the Garden of the Gods. Garden of the Gods is a large public park that is home to towering red rock formations. Its beauty is said to be “fit for the Gods,” thus how the park got its name. The geological features at Garden of the Gods are millions of years old; the shapes are a result of erosion while the color can be mostly attributed to the presence of iron in the rock.
Adding a second layer of beauty to Garden of the Gods is its location at the base of the Rocky Mountains, with Pikes Peak – one of the tallest and most prominent mountains in Colorado – in the background.
Admission to Garden of the Gods is free. The park has picnic tables, a Visitor & Nature Center with exhibits explaining the geology, ecology, and human history of the area, and 15 miles (24 km) of trails. We hiked the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) Perkins Central Gardens loop trail that weaves in and around some of the red rock formations.
I was very sad a couple summers back when those horrible forest fires swept through Colorado. The area around Garden of the Gods was among those that were affected. However, I read someone else’s blog post about Garden of the Gods a few months back (shout-out to whoever this was, I can’t remember…) and their photos didn’t show any evidence of the fires so the park itself, at least, seems to have been spared.
There isn’t much more to say here, so I’ll keep this one short and sweet and just include a bunch of photos. Enjoy!
The Important Stuff:
- Getting there: located in West Colorado Springs, just off of US Highway 24; it’s well-signed and easy to find
- Fees & passes: none!
- Camping: none in the park, plenty of options nearby
- Hiking: 15 miles (24 km) of easy trails; we walked the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) Perkins Central Gardens loop, which passes close by many of the features
- Other: The park is open from 5am-11pm and the visitor center is open 8am-7pm in the summer, with shortened hours in the winter
Handstands Around the World 
Glad there was no evidence of the wildfires when you explored.
Growing up my family was into New Agey hippies stuff. My Dad was a big fan of Linda Goodman and she spoke a lot about Garden of the Gods and Colorado Springs. I’d love to see it but as non drivers I think it’d be tough. Maybe we can convince someone who drives to come with us.
It’s a NY thing. It’s not uncommon to meet people who never learned to drive and some people who do hate it. I never learned and Vic learned at 28 or 29. it stresses him out. He has no excuse, his family always had a car!
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We could see the burn scars up on the hillside (so scary to see how close it came to the city) but the fires seem to have spared Garden of the Gods.
I’m not familiar with the public transit in Colorado Springs, but once you get to the park itself you can see a lot on foot. In fact, traffic can be really terrible so at times I imagine walking around it is less stressful and faster than driving and parking!
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Oh how I LOVE Garden of the Gods. It’s features are so unique and one-of-a-kind. I visited Garden of the Gods a couple summers back and would love to go back to visit. For the really go-getter type of adventurers that visit this area should consider tackling the Manitou Springs incline. It is quite the cardio workout! I look forward to seeing more inspirational photos and adventure stories on your blog! 🙂
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Oh wow, I just googled that…that is a LOT of stairs! View does look amazing though. Thanks for the suggestion and thanks for reading!
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That bumper sticker is absolutely brilliant! (And sorely needed here in France!) Your trips across America’s national parks continue to inspire me, great photos as per 🙂
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Yep, here in America as well sadly….
And thanks!
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I didn’t go there when I had the chance. Thanks for the pictures to show me what I missed out on 😉 next time for sure. Seriously though, great photos. And that bumper sticker is awesome.
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Well, now you have a good reason to return to the area 🙂🙂
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One of the many areas we shall have to revisit. I will say that you keep making our list longer.
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Glad I can help 😊😊
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We lived in Colorado Springs for a number of years and the view never got old. That little town is called Trinidad.
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Oh great, thank you! It’s just such a cool little town with that mountain in the background.
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