Garden of the Gods
Garden of the Gods is a 1,341.3-acre regional park located at 1805 North 30th Street in Colorado Springs, Colorado, celebrated for its soaring red sandstone formations, striking geological history, and permanent status as a free public park. The site is a National Natural Landmark, having been recognized by the Department of the Interior as "a nationally-significant natural area." It attracts more than two million visitors a year, making it the city's most visited park. Sitting at the base of Pikes Peak along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, the park is a defining landmark of the Pikes Peak Region and one of the most distinctive natural attractions in the American West.
Geology
Hundreds of millions of years ago, the area surrounding Garden of the Gods was host to the Ancestral Rockies, an ancient mountain range in roughly the same area as the modern-day Rockies. Over time, the Ancestral Rockies slowly eroded, leaving behind only low hills and sediment. As the ancient mountain range disappeared, the climate dried out and sand dunes formed across the region. Over the years, seas and oceans encroached and retreated on the land, leaving behind ocean deposits. The outstanding geological features of the park are the highly visible sedimentary rock formations. These rocks were created as ancient mountains eroded and were buried in their own sediments. Massive sand dunes moved across the land, and shallow seas and deeper oceans encroached and retreated. Each environment left behind gravel, sand, and ocean deposits that formed horizontal layers over millions of years.
The Garden of the Gods' dramatic spires are the legacy of a Saharan-scale desert that covered the region about 280 million years ago. Although originally deposited in horizontal sheets, the Lyons Sandstone was later deformed by the tremendous forces associated with the rise of the Rockies, which about 65 million years ago began to uplift the much older igneous and metamorphic "basement" rocks that form the Rockies' core. In the process, the Lyons Sandstone was tilted, especially near the major faults — the planar features where much of the uplift occurred. One of these faults runs right through the Garden of the Gods, and its handiwork — the amazing fins — continues to inspire visitors.
During the Pleistocene Ice Age, glacial forces helped erode and carve the rocks into the stunning sandstone formations visible today. Ripples on the rocks serve as evidence of water lapping at ancient shores. Fossils and seashells turn up regularly in the Garden; in 2016, park staff even discovered a shark tooth fossil.
The rocks are conglomerates of red, pink, and white sandstones and limestone. Notable formations within the park include Steamboat Rock, the Three Graces, and Balanced Rock. The tallest of the sandstone fins reach over 300 feet in height. These events caused the sandstone to shift, with profound movement occurring near the major faults, one of which runs through Garden of the Gods park, leading to the formation of the park's impressive spires, including North Gateway Rock and White Rock.
Also of paleontological note, Colorado College professor James Kerr found the only known Theiophytalia kerri in the Garden in 1878. Although technology to prove the new species took more than a century to catch up, Kerr was still honored as the discoverer. The dinosaur was named after him and the place it was found — Theios is Greek for "belonging to the gods" and phytalia meaning "garden."
Indigenous History
Archaeological evidence shows that prehistoric people visited Garden of the Gods about 1330 BC. For centuries before European contact, the site held deep cultural significance for the region's Indigenous peoples. Garden of the Gods served as neutral ground for Native Americans. Even rival tribes laid down their weapons when entering the garden. This peaceful area was sacred and a hub for trade between nomadic tribes. The Ute people were native to the area and made the land near the formations their home during the winter months.
According to Ute oral tradition, the Ute people have lived in Colorado since the beginning of time. The oldest residents of Colorado acquired horses from the Spanish around 1630 and became skilled horsemen. Over time, the Ute made Camp Creek Valley — the current site of Rock Ledge Ranch — their basecamp, as it provided abundant water and diverse plant life.
The Ute Trail passes through Garden of the Gods and the Ranch site. In the mid-19th century, gold discoveries and further Westward expansion and settlement brought the U.S. government and the Ute into conflict. As a result, the Ute people were removed from this area to reservations in Southwestern Colorado and Utah in the 1870s.
The Garden also holds many reminders of the region's human history — ancient hearths, the centuries-old trail of the Nuu-ciu (Ute) American Indians, and rock signatures of gold-seekers.
Naming and Early American History
The first European explorers referred to this site as Red Rock Corral. The park's now-famous name was coined in August 1859. In August of 1859, two surveyors started out from Denver City to begin a townsite, soon to be called Colorado City. While exploring nearby locations, they came upon a beautiful area of sandstone formations. Surveyor M. S. Beach suggested that it would be a "capital place for a Biergarten" when the country grew up. His companion, Rufus Cable, a "young and poetic man," exclaimed, "Biergarten! Why it is a fit place for the Gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods." It has been so-called ever since.
By the 1870s, the railroads had forged their way west, and in 1871, General William Jackson Palmer founded Colorado Springs. Later, in 1879, General Palmer repeatedly urged his friend, Charles Elliott Perkins, the head of "the Q" Railroad, to establish a home in the Garden of the Gods and to build his railroad out to Colorado Springs.
General Palmer and the Perkins family were not the first to recognize that the Garden of the Gods should be a public park. Almost forgotten in local history is that 23 years before the Garden became a city park, it almost became the country's second National Park (Yellowstone was first). In 1886, a bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress proposing the Garden as a National Park to "protect the Garden of the Gods from spoilation." However, the bill was defeated because too much land was privately owned within the proposed park boundary, which would have included the Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, Cripple Creek, and Pikes Peak with all its surrounding mountains and canyons.
Donation to the Public: The Perkins Legacy
In 1879, Charles Perkins, president of the Chicago Burlington Quincy Railroad, purchased much of the land now known as the Garden of the Gods. Although "the Q" never reached Colorado Springs, Perkins did purchase two-hundred and forty acres in the Garden of the Gods for a summer home. He later added to the property but never built on it, preferring to leave his wonderland in its natural state for the enjoyment of the public.
In 1899, Perkins purchased another 240 acres and in his letters to General Palmer, expressed his desire to donate his 480 acres to the City of Colorado Springs. In 1907, Charles Perkins died before he had officially arranged for the Garden of the Gods in Colorado to become a public park. However, knowing their father's wish for the Garden, Perkins' children deeded the 480-acre Garden of the Gods to the City of Colorado Springs on December 22, 1909, with the stipulation that it remain "free to the entire world."
The deed's language was unusually specific in its protections. In 1909, Perkins' children, knowing their father's feeling for the Garden of the Gods, conveyed his four-hundred and eighty acres to the City of Colorado Springs: "where it shall remain free to the public, where no intoxicating liquors shall be manufactured, sold, or dispensed, where no building or structure shall be erected except those necessary to properly care for, protect, and maintain the area as a public park."
Today, the original 480-acre Perkins land donation, described as "a gift of inestimable value," forms the center of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, which now totals 1,367 acres. The Garden of the Gods has since been designated as a National Natural Landmark (1971) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1979).
Recreation and Visitor Amenities
The Garden of the Gods Park is popular for hiking, technical rock climbing, road and mountain biking, and horseback riding. It attracts more than two million visitors a year, making it the city's most visited park. There are 21 miles (34 km) of trails.
The main trail in the park, the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) Perkins Central Garden Trail, is paved and wheelchair-accessible, running "through the heart of the park's largest and most scenic red rocks." The trail begins at the North Parking lot, the main parking lot off of Juniper Way Loop.
Because of the unusual and steep rock formations in the park, it is an attractive destination for rock climbers. Rock climbing is permitted, with annual permits obtained at the City of Colorado Springs' website.
Garden of the Gods sits at about 6,400 feet (1,951 meters) above sea level.
In 1995, the Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center was opened just outside the park. The Visitor and Nature Center is located at 1805 N. 30th Street and offers a view of the park. The center's information and 30 educational exhibits are staffed by Parks, Recreation and Culture employees of the City of Colorado Springs. A short movie, How Did Those Red Rocks Get There?, runs every 20 minutes. The Visitor & Nature Center is owned and operated by the Garden of the Gods Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, committed to ensuring the park remains protected and accessible for future generations. The center is also home to the world's only Theiophytalia kerri dinosaur, discovered right in the park.
According to the Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center, the visitation density at Garden of the Gods is 100 times that of the 265,461 acres of Rocky Mountain National Park.