October 25, 2022

GARDEN OF THE GODS

1805 N. 30th Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80904

“Located at the base of Pikes Peak, this National Natural Landmark and popular park features stunning geological formations, rock climbing, nature trails and the Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center.” – Tripadvisor.com

Having heard of Garden of the Gods many times but never visiting, I decided I would see what everyone was talking about.  I arrived early (8:15 a.m. after an hour drive).  The Visitor Center was not open yet, which I knew it wouldn’t be.  I stopped in the parking lot to take a couple pictures with Pikes Peak in the background.  Then, using an app on my phone called TravelStorys, I started the audio-guided driving tour of the park.  I had been told to visit in the morning, and they were right, the red rock formations were beautiful in the morning sunlight.  The tour, with stops to take photos, probably took about 45 minutes.  I was worried about getting to my next destination, which had a timed ticket, so I left the park when I concluded the driving tour.  In hindsight I wish I would have scheduled more time to explore some of the hiking trails in the park.  I will definitely return if I am in the area.

Side note:  The TravelStorys app was amazing.  On this tour it had about 10 different snippets of information about the park’s history, some of the rock formations, and helped with driving directions.  The amazing part was, once you started the tour, the app would automatically play the appropriate snippet when you reached the area.  It appears there are many other such audio tours on the app so I will be using it more as I traverse the country.