Garden of the Gods
I have always been fascinated with bright orange rock formations of the American west, and one of the places with these said formations, is situated in an quite unexpected state - Colorado. Apparently, Garden of the Gods is the most visited place in the state. The only catch is that is is situated in the middle of nowhere and you need a car to get there. Colorado is full of vast prairies and, while the landscape looks cool to visitors like me, all the sights in Colorado are spread out and it is hard to visit all of them in a single trip.
Since I love to ski, and you can find some of the best ski slopes in the American west, I decided that this year, I will check out a place in Colorado, called Breckenridge. Like I mentioned in the previous chapter, sights in Colorado are not nearly close to each other. And the closest airport to Breckenridge that I could fly to, is Denver, which is more than two hours away from Breckenridge.
And since the flight from Ohio to Denver takes three hours, and there is a two hour time difference between the two states, I knew I was going to be too exhausted to drive after landing, so I decided to spend the day in the nearby small town, called Colorado springs. And since my flight landed at ten in the morning (yeah, I had to wake up super early), I decided to look for some nearby attractions that I could check out during the rest of my day. And the place people recommended the most, was the Garden of the Gods.
A view of the Garden of the Gods's rock formations from the distance.
On the pictures, the place looked pretty decent, so I decided to check it out. After dropping my bags off at the AirBnb in Colorado springs, I drove straight to Garden of the Gods, which is situated only about a fifteen minute drive out of Colorado Springs. How did I like it? Feel free to read more below.
Pictures do not do it justice, but they do give you an idea about how awesome this place is.
How to get there and best times to visit
Garden of the Gods is situated just a short drive away from a little village in Colorado, called Colorado Springs, and a little more than an hour outside Denver. To get there from Colorado springs, take the Interstate 25 and exit the highway at Garden of the Gods road - impossible to miss. Keep driving until you see the sighs that will direct you to the Visitor center, and later on, to the park itself.
In winter, Garden of the Gods might be covered in snow. Well, I was lucky when I was there - in late February, there was no snow and it was 65 degrees outside, so we were all wearing short sleeves!
In terms of the best time of the day to visit, the sunrise and sunset will make the rock formations glow with bright orange colours and it will be absolutely breathtaking. But, to be honest, any time you visit, you will love it!
Visitor center
Garden of the Gods has a pretty cool visitor center, but it is situated a few miles away from the rock formations. I would say that it is completely worth the detour. If nothing else, you can get free maps of the Garden of the Gods there.
You do not have to pay anything to enter the visitor center. They have restrooms, water fountains, a porch with a cool view (but more about it in just a minute), and an information desk, where you can also buy permits for rock climbing. You can read more about it in the ‘Rock climbing’ paragraph.
The visitor center also tells you about how the rock formations were formed, what dinosaurs lived around, what plants and animals can you find in the park nowadays, and so on. The visitor center is small, but it is very informative, especially if you would like to learn more about the history and wildlife of the area.
The view from the Visitor center’s porch swept me off my feet - Rocky Mountains in the background, miles and miles away, but you can still see their white peaks, covered in powdery snow. And then, a prairie with bright orange rock formations, which is your next destination. This spot makes for a pretty cool picture, with or without you in it.
Parking and admission
Unlike most of other parks in America, you do not have to pay any admission to enter the Garden of the Gods! When I found that out, I thought that the park itself must not be very spectacular since it is free. During my years of travelling the world I realized that free attractions are usually overrated. (Do not attack me here, I said usually.)
The parking in the Garden of the Gods is a big problem. In theory, you can leave your car parked at the Visitor center, but that would mean walking mostly uphill to the Garden of the Gods entrance, which is situated a few miles away.
The Garden of the Gods has two main and several side entrances. The two biggest parking areas are situated next to each main entrance. At each one of the two main parking spots, there are restrooms, so make sure you use them before you enter the park, since there are no public restrooms inside.
The road through the Garden of the Gods goes around in a loop, and there are several parking spots next to the several park side entrances, but you might have to drive around in a loop several times before you will find a parking spot, which is what I happened to me and my friends. We were there on a weekend, and if you do the same, make sure you arrive early enough (meaning right after the park opens to the public). There are several areas in the loop where you can stop the car for up to fifteen minutes just to look at the scenery and take some cool pictures, but you are not allowed to stay parked there longer than the designated period of time.
And just a friendly advice - if you are the driver, please pay attention to the road and do not look around too much. There is a reason they put so many lookout spots throughout the loop - so you can stop and admire the scenery safely!
The trails and formations
The Garden of the Gods is full of amazing red rock formations that look like something from a different world. Each formation has its name, based on what it resembles when you look at it. There are several paved (!) trails that lead through the park, and signs with maps all over the park will make your decision which way to go much easier. You can also get a paper map at the visitor center - it is much more convenient to carry a map with you than having to rely on signs, and it is free.
There are five trails to choose from, and you cannot possibly do all of them in a single day (well, unless you are used to hiking at a high elevation). The trail that me and my friends did, was the easiest one, and it is called the Perkins central garden trail. This trail will take you through the most interesting formations in the park without having to struggle and gasp for air every few seconds, because there is no big elevation change on this trail.
Some of the formations, as seen from the beginning of the trail.
Since this trail is the easiest among all the trails in the Garden of the Gods, it is also the most crowded, although people move around all the time, so you will not get that annoying ‘amusement park crowds’ feeling. Well, you might have to wait for a few minutes to take pictures in front of the coolest rock formations, but there was never more than five people in front of us when me and my friends were there.
See the rock climbers on top?
This trail is less than two miles long, but when walking it, you will pass the most interesting rock formations. Some of them are the Siamese twins, Camels, Cathedral, Giant and others. If you look at them long enough, you will recognize the shapes. When driving back home, make a detour and check out the Balancing rock formation. There were too many people in front of it to take a good picture, but this formation is probably the most impressive one in the park. It seems like that the big rock will slide off any second, but it was actually standing like that for millions and millions of years.
And a (not so) funny warning that I noticed while walking through Garden of the Gods - you have to stay on the trails (which are paved - it is amazing!) because there are rattlesnakesin the grass that surrounds the trails! Well, I am not sure if you would encounter one in winter, but I would not risk leaving the trails during warmer months, not even for the sake of taking an amazing picture.
Seriously - do not leave the trail!
Rock climbing
It is legal to rock climb some of the formations in the Garden of the Gods, however, you have to be certified to do so, AND obtain a rock climbing permit at the Visitor center. You also have to register in advance and have your own rock climbing equipment, and they might check it when you will be obtaining a permit. The rock formations look pretty demanding to climb, but I am sure the views from the top of the formations are extremely spectacular.
I was pretty surprised when I found out that you can climb the formations, because I was thinking that climbing destroys the formations. And I am not a rock climber, but I have been wanting to do it for quite a long time now, and seeing the climbable formations at the Garden of the Gods was a good motivation to finally start climbing.
Dealing with the high elevation
Garden of the Gods is situated at almost two thousand meters above the sea level! Yeah, that is a pretty high elevation, at least for me. And while Garden of the Gods does not have very steep trails, I often found myself gasping for air while walking upwards. I have to say that it surprised me, since I am in a decent shape, but this was also my first experience with hiking at such an elevation, and even if I am in a decent shape, I still had some trouble finishing the hike.
The higher you go, the thinner the air is, and the more light headed you will feel. I also noticed being fatigued from time to time, and overall, I was super tired after the end of the hike. These symptoms are completely normal when you are hiking at high elevation, but I was still a little bit uncomfortable.
The most important thing to do is to stay hydrated - bring plenty of water with you, and take rest often. I mean, when you rest, you can admire all the amazing rock formations, and get some much needed air into your lungs in the meantime.
A few words for the end…
I still cannot believe that I almost decided to skip a visit of Garden of the Gods. My original plan was to just go straight to Breckenridge after landing in Denver. I am so happy that I decided to spend a day in Colorado springs for some great hiking. So if you ever find yourself in Denver, skip the city and head straight to Garden of the Gods. You will not regret it.
