Happenin’
Places › Colorado › Garden of the Gods
Garden of the Gods

Photo: mark byzewski / CC BY 2.0 · source

🏜️ Canyons & deserts

Garden of the Gods

Colorado Springs, CO · Rocky Mountains

About

Garden of the Gods is a free public park where towering fins of red sandstone rise dramatically against the backdrop of Pikes Peak. Easy paved trails wind right up to the iconic formations, making the signature scenery accessible to almost anyone, while climbers, cyclists, and horseback riders find plenty to explore. The free Visitor and Nature Center across from the main entrance offers exhibits, guided walks, and the best first stop for orientation.

Highlights

Balanced RockThe towering Gateway Rock formationsPikes Peak views from the main loopPaved Perkins Central Garden TrailRock climbing on the red sandstone finsFree Visitor and Nature Center exhibits

Getting there

1805 N 30th St, Colorado Springs, CO 80904

Related places

Devil's Millhopper Geological State Park Canyons & deserts

Devil's Millhopper Geological State Park

Gainesville, FL · North Central Florida

Devil's Millhopper is a 120-foot-deep, 500-foot-wide sinkhole near Gainesville that hides a miniature rainforest where Florida almost never has one. A boardwalk and 132 steps descend past fern-draped limestone walls and trickling cascades to the cool, shaded bowl at the bottom. The seepage waterfalls run strongest in late winter and early spring, when the streams are at their fullest.

Grand Canyon National Park Canyons & deserts

Grand Canyon National Park

Tusayan, AZ · Grand Canyon

One of the world's great natural wonders, the Grand Canyon is a mile deep, up to 18 miles wide, and 277 river miles long, carved by the Colorado River over millions of years. The South Rim is open year round and packs the most accessible viewpoints, lodges, and trailheads, making it the side most visitors choose for a first trip. Sunrise and sunset set the layered red rock walls ablaze, and the sheer scale rewards anyone willing to make the journey.

Zion National Park Canyons & deserts

Zion National Park

Springdale, UT · Southern Utah

Zion National Park is a canyon wonderland in southwest Utah where the Virgin River has carved a deep gorge through towering walls of cream, pink, and red Navajo sandstone. Soaring cliffs, hanging gardens, and slot canyons make it one of the most dramatic and accessible parks in the country, with a free shuttle that carries visitors deep into Zion Canyon. It rewards both casual sightseers and serious adventurers, so it is well worth the trip for almost any traveler.

Part of these collections

Curated guides that feature Garden of the Gods.

The Rocky Mountains21 places

The Rocky Mountains

Alpine lakes, fourteeners, and golden aspen along the spine of the West. The Rockies at their most iconic: the Maroon Bells mirrored in their lake, the Tetons rising straight off the valley floor, Glacier's Going-to-the-Sun Road, the red spires of the Garden of the Gods, and Idaho's serrated Sawtooths over Redfish Lake. From Colorado's San Juans to the Wyoming Tetons, Montana's Glacier, and the Idaho high country, with high passes and old mining towns in between.