Garden of the Gods

Interesting facts

The dinosaur skull found here in 1878 was only recognised as a new species in 2006, almost 130 years after it was dug up.

A subspecies of honey ant described in 1879 was named hortideorum after the park, from the Latin for garden of the gods.

Archaeological evidence suggests people were visiting the site by about 1330 BC, and that groups camped among the rocks by around 250 BC.

The two surveyors credited with naming the place in August 1859 were Melancthon S. Beach and Rufus Cable.

The land that Charles Elliott Perkins bought here, and that his family later gave to the city, amounted to some 480 acres.

The rock fins were tilted upright during the Laramide orogeny, the mountain-building episode that also raised the modern Rocky Mountains.

With more than two million visitors a year, it is the most visited park in Colorado Springs.

More than 130 bird species have been recorded in the park, including white-throated swifts and canyon wrens that nest in the sandstone cliffs.

The park covers about 1,341 acres and is threaded by some 21 miles of trails.

Why it is worth it

Garden of the Gods is a gathering of tall red sandstone fins on the western edge of Colorado Springs, rising abruptly from the grassland with the bulk of Pikes Peak behind them. The rocks are not boulders but whole layers of the Earth's crust turned on end: ancient beds of sand and gravel that once lay flat were tilted almost vertical as the Rocky Mountains rose, and erosion has since stripped away the softer material around them. What remains are thin, flame-shaped walls of deep red, pink and white that catch the morning sun in spectacular fashion.

The rocks record a long story. The coarse red Fountain Formation, some 320 to 300 million years old, is made of debris washed off the Ancestral Rocky Mountains; the Lyons sandstone, a little younger, preserves desert dunes from a time when this part of Colorado was a sea of sand. The Lyons beds form the tallest walls in the park, among them North Gateway Rock, which rises about 98 metres. A dinosaur skull found here in 1878 turned out to belong to a previously unknown plant-eater, now called Theiophytalia kerri, which lived about 112 million years ago.

Among the named formations are Balanced Rock, a huge block perched on a slender base, the Kissing Camels at the crest of North Gateway Rock, Cathedral Spires, the Three Graces and Steamboat Rock. Local tradition says two surveyors gave the place its name in 1859, one thinking it would make a fine beer garden and the other declaring it fit for the gods to assemble. The Ute, Cheyenne, Apache, Pawnee and other peoples have long associations with the area.

The park exists in its present form because of a gift. Charles Elliott Perkins bought land here in 1879, and after his death his family gave it to the city in 1909 on condition that it remain a free public park. It became a National Natural Landmark in 1971. Today trails, climbing routes and roads wind through the formations, and the visitor centre explains their geology and history; come at sunrise, when the red walls are lit against Pikes Peak.

Getting there

The park lies within Colorado Springs, about 6.5 km from the city centre, and the Colorado Springs Airport (COS) is about 17 km away.

Garden of the Gods

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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