Great Garden of the Gods

In continuation of our Colorado series, today we will sneak peek into Garden of the Gods. When we first visited Colorado (RMNP) in year 2018, heard about this place and even thought of visiting, but due to limited time couldn’t go. In last year’s trip we finally covered it along with Great Sand Dunes, Black Canyon and Pikes Peak. It was the last point of our Colorado trip.

Park, as the name suggests, is something you can’t miss, c’mon it’s GODS’ garden. As history goes, initially it used to be called as “Red Rock Corral”, but later on renamed to “Garden of the God” due to its wonderful rock formations. We went there twice, once in the evening of second-last day of trip and other on early-morning of last day. Our hotel “Quality Inn & Suites, Garden of the Gods” was less than 10 mins of drive from the attraction, that’s why it was last on our list.

On first day, we explored whole garden by ourselves, without guide. There are various formations , each having unique name, unique structure, that will wonder you. Structures are made up of limestone, sandstone and conglomerate and are the results of the uplift of Rocky Mountains and Pikes Peak.

Park entry is free, we firstly went to Visitor Center, gathered information about the recreational activities and available tours. They have Segway tour, bus tour, rock climbing, mountain biking and few other activities. At that time in evening, nothing was available so we booked next morning Segway tour and visited the park.

What to expect in Visitor Center :-

• Booking for personal or group tours at the counter
• Information about the park, operational hours, it’s history and other facts
• Short movie on the history of park, every 20 mins
• Nice cafeteria with great view of park
• Exhibit for Geology, Plants, Wildlife and Native Americans
• Gift Shop

There are nearly 20 miles of trails, it’s kind of paradise for the hikers. We also spotted cyclists and skaters in the park. Rock-climbing is also a popular activity here, but we couldn’t do that due to lack of time. Trust me, it’s a heaven for photographers and nature- lovers.

Activities to do in park :-

• Hiking
• Cycling
• Skating
• Rock-Climbing
• Segway
• Photography

After spending considerable amount of time, we returned to our hotel. It was great experience and we were looking forward to our next-morning Segway guided tour. We never tried Segways before so were very excited. We had dinner in Olive Garden (close to our hotel) and went to bed.

Next morning, we got up on time, packed our stuff and checked-out from Hotel after having breakfast. We arrived on time for our tour and were the only ones (wow !) for the tour. Our guide told us normally park is crowded but since it was Monday, we got lucky.

In initial 30 minutes, he told us about safety and precautions to take while riding Segway and asked us to practice 2-3 rounds in parking area to get comfortable. See the practice video yourself, which was total fun.

We covered whole park on our Segways , following our guide who gave us a lot of information about the rocks, their formation and their uniqueness. It was roughly one hour tour which was simply unforgettable. He showed us the Pikes Peak from one point and took our photo which is below (notice the snowy mountain in background) :-

Tour was fantastic and guide was too good. He was a local, told us so many things about Colorado Springs. We captured memory with him and started for Omaha.

It was a memorable trip, full of excitements. Colorado never disappoints !

Let me know what you like most about the place and which of these formations are your favorite, if any ?

PEACE !