GARDEN OF THE GODS, COLORADO
Garden of the Gods is a spectacular site that I couldn’t wait to visit with my family while traveling in Colorado. Just imagine wandering among dramatic red sandstone formations that rise 300 feet in the sky all around you! It’s incredible!
At Garden of the Gods you can simply drive through this picturesque park, and see a lot from the road, or you can choose from more than 15 miles of trails to explore and wander among these fantastic formations.
Did I mention that this entire park is free, yes FREE!
Before visiting, I was so excited for our family’s adventure to begin. I just knew that we would love it! And we would have, if I hadn’t made one simple mistake.
Tips on Visiting Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Before I get into the mistake I made, I would like to start with what you can expect when visiting this amazing site. For our family, I found planning our first visit to Garden of the Gods in Colorado confusing. It was hard to know where to start, where to park, which formations were the “best” and most popular, and which trails we should concentrate our limited time on. This is where I’d like to help. Below, I would love to share with you what we learned during our visit, how to avoid the mistake we made and provide you with some helpful tips to hopefully make your own visit to Garden of the Gods more amazing.
Update: I am happy to say that the Garden of the Gods has updated their website since our visit and it now feels much more user-friendly. So make sure after you read this post, that you check it out for further information.
Start at the Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center
First, a great place to start is at the free Visitor and Nature Center. Here you can enjoy amazing views, great interactive museum exhibits and a wonderful movie called “How Did Those Rocks Get There?” This 15 minute movie, that runs every 20 minutes, lets you soar high above the Garden of the Gods with awe-inspiring footage and it will transport you through millions of years of geologic history. This movie is a great introduction for what you will see in the park.
Please note that there is a cost to see this movie.
Before you leave the Visitor Center also make sure you grab a map (or print one here) so that you can find each specific formation more easily.
Driving at Garden of the Gods
After stopping at the Visitor Center, you will then get in your car, yes your car, and drive down Gateway Road into this free city park. This originally confused me as well because in most parks the main walking trails begin at the Visitor Center. Here they do not. At Garden of the Gods, you have to drive through this park, stop at different parking lots, and walk on specific trails to get to each formation that you want to see.
Help with How Garden of the Gods is Laid Out
To get to Garden of the Gods, it’s best to enter off of 30th St in Colorado Springs. This is where the Visitor Center is. This is on the east side of the park (but the park itself is on the northwest side of Colorado Springs.) After stopping at the Visitor Center, head into the park and drive the Juniper Way Loop. This is where the majority of the formations are. After driving this loop circle, you’ll want to head towards the southwest side of the park, (towards Balanced Rock) to exit. The exit here will take you to HWY-24.
If you’re looking for a good place to start exploring Garden of the Gods, I recommend starting at the main parking lot on the north side of Juniper Loop Drive. This is the first parking lot you’ll come to when heading counterclockwise on Juniper Loop Drive from the Visitor Center. Here you can walk the popular Perkins Central Garden Trail. This trail is an easy walk and it’s bursting with spectacular formations.
Go to Perkins Central Garden Trail after the Visitor Center.
Directions: From the visitor center you will drive down Gateway Road until it comes to a “T.” Then you will take a right and head to the first parking lot on your left.
Perkins Central Garden Trail
The Perkins Central Garden Trail is an easy 1.5 mile loop on a paved path that has less than 30 feet of elevation change. (See picture above) This beautiful trail meanders by the base of the highest rock formations in the park and it’s absolutely gorgeous! There are 8 popular, named formations on this trail alone and they simply left us in awe.
Traveler Tip: This trail is stroller friendly and wheelchair accessible
What We Loved
This is a fantastic trail at Garden of the Gods! Not only are the formations extremely cool, but I really loved how this trail highlights nature’s vibrant colors lying next to each other. Rich red rocks, deep green trees with a lime green grass that are all surrounded by a brilliantly blue sky. It’s gorgeous!
I also loved watching the rock climbers here. Garden of the Gods is a popular place to climb. Hopefully you’ll get to see some climbers in action too!
Travel Tip: This is the busiest trail in the park and it can be quite crowded. (See more on this later)
After walking the Perkins Central Garden Trail you’ll want to get back in your car and head to the next stop. For us this was Ridge Loop Trail. This is on the southeast side of the park and you must drive half way around the loop road to get to it.
Garden of the Gods Photos On Our Drive
Ridge Trail
He wears this hat everywhere and loves it!
If you are looking for a trail to get away from the crowds, hike among spectacular scenery and be out among the rocks, then Ridge Loop Trail is for you. And it’s great for families too!
Now it’s true that you won’t be walking beside the incredible formations found on the Perkins Central Garden Trail but the view here more than makes up for it. Our three boys really loved this trail too! They were so happy to be out on this dirt trail where they could feel more immersed in the landscape instead of separated from it by fences as they were on the Perkins Central Garden Trail. (This is something to keep in mind if you are traveling with kids who love exploring nature.)
Traveler Tip: Please note that it can be really hot and sunny on Ridge Trail so make sure you have a good water bottle with you.
Siamese Twins Trail
Another great trail at Garden of the Gods that you might want to hike is the Siamese Twins trail. Unfortunately for us, our kids were starting to poop out (our youngest being 5 years old) and so sadly, we weren’t able to hike this one. If you are looking at hiking this trail, know that it is an easy 1 mile hike, with less than 150 feet rise in elevation and that there is a really cool rock formation half way through the loop. I wish we had been able to see this, but sometimes that’s the way it goes (especially when traveling with kids.) Hopefully next time. Make sure you check this trail out if you have the time.
For our family, after Ridge trail, we headed in our car to the famous Balanced Rock and Steamboat Rock. This is located almost as you exit the park on the southwest side.
Balanced Rock & Steamboat Rock
Balanced Rock and Steamboat Rock are fantastic sandstone formations that you’ll definitely want to see when visiting Garden of the Gods! They’re amazing!
Please note that there is a parking lot nearby, so it’s not far to walk to and stand right next to these incredible structures. The road here also passes right between them so you can actually just drive between these spectacular rocks and admire them as you pass if you don’t want to get out of your car. Although the second option is not ideal, this unfortunately, is what we ended up doing. I’ll explain why below.
How to Avoid the Biggest Mistake that We Made
This brings me to the Biggest Mistake We Made when Visiting Garden of the Gods.
Timing is Everything!
I had heard that Garden of the Gods in Colorado got pretty crowded on the weekends but unfortunately our trip route had us passing through here on a Friday in the afternoon. I originally thought that this would be o.k. because I was thinking that we would still beat the weekend crowds and I was happy that we wouldn’t be hiking in the heat of mid-day. But now I wish that I had rearranged our schedule somehow so that we could have walked through this park on a weekday morning.
During our visit, Garden of the Gods was so Incredibly Crowded! Both Central Gardens Trail and Balanced Rock were absolutely packed with people everywhere you turned. This definitely took something away from our experience and we unfortunately, almost couldn’t wait to get out of this park.
Our Advice for Visiting
So my advice to you is that if you are planning to see this amazing park, plan on going during a weekday if at all possible, especially during the peak tourist season! The park will be quieter, there will be less people, less cars and your experience will be so much better.
Where We Stayed
We stayed in Manitou Springs after visiting Garden of the Gods and really enjoyed it. This is less than one mile from the southwest side of Garden of the Gods and it’s such a cute little town! There were so many restaurants here and we had a great evening just walking around.
Our Favorite Items For Hiking at Garden of the Gods:
Now You Are All Set To Visit Garden of the Gods.
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You May Also Like This Nearby Site:
Red Rock Canyon Open Space
Less than 2 miles down the road from Garden of the Gods in Colorado
Red Rock Canyon is located less than 2 miles down the road from the Garden of the Gods south exit and our family absolutely loved it! We began our hike first thing in the morning and I think that made it even more spectacular. The air was cool and there was almost no one on the trail. Our family had a blast here!
The Trail
At Red Rock Canyon our family chose to hike the Red Rock Canyon Trail, then cut over on the Quarry Pass Trail and finally head back on the Greenlee Trail. This was a great 1.8 mile loop! You can print a map of their trails here or go to their website for more specific information.
Duration
This loop took our family 1.5 hours to hike. (at a meandering pace)
Our family really loved how peaceful this trail was and how you could really get away from it all!
There is one steep section on this trail where a set of stairs is carved into the rock. This was a highlight for our kids! They loved it! And don’t worry, it looks much scarier than it was. I never felt it was unsafe for our kids (our youngest had just turned 5. He is a good hiker who listens and he’s good at staying on the path. I added this in case you were trying to decide whether or not to hike it with a younger child.)
Our Favorite Kid Hiking Gear:
Columbia Boys Silver Ridge II Convertible Pant
Available in 6 Colors
Silver Ridge Convertible Pants
Smartwool Unisex Hike Light Crew Socks
Available in 4 colors
This is a beautiful loop to hike.
Our Advice
So, in conclusion, if you happen to be in the Colorado Springs area to see Garden of the Gods, then I highly recommend stopping at Red Rock Canyon Open Space if you have any extra time. Here you will find an incredibly relaxing hike, without a ton of people and be able to walk through some pretty fantastic scenery. Our family absolutely loved hiking at Red Rock Canyon Open Space and we hope your family will too!
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Have a Great Adventure at Red Rock Canyon Open Space with Your “Traveling Feet!”
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