We came to Garden of the Gods RV Resort in Colorado Springs on July 13 for four nights. We were given a great site (K-13) with full hookups that was so handy for laundry, the pool and awesome showers.
July 14
We drove into Garden of the Gods Park – NO FEE + FREE parking!! We got to the Visitor Center about 9:30 am. We try to arrive places early enough to better our chances of getting a nice spot that Sadie will fit. We backed into a regular parking spot further from the building where hanging over the sidewalk would not be an issue.
We thought we could ride our bikes to the Center of the Gardens to explore, but learned you can only bike the outer loop, which is the same that cars have to go. A free shuttle is provided to take you to the sidewalk into the center area, so that’s what we did today.
Views from the observation balcony:
The “Kissing Camels”
The visitor center had a couple of “touch tables” and interactive exhibits that were pretty cool. This is the first time I’ve touched several of these animals.
Various animal pelts:
We took the FREE shuttle to the “Center of the Gardens” where the walking ONLY paths are. We will explore the visitor center more afterwards.
Our driver told us the following:
The Ute Indians lived in the mountains during winter and moved to this fertile Garden of the Gods (GOG) valley for the summer. All Indians considered GOG holy ground to the point that no tribes ever fought another tribe here. Some would even trade with each other while here!
Do you see the face?
What a pretty area!
We even did some climbing!
We headed back down to the Center of the GOG. The formation in front looks like a single “mitten”.
We kept thinking we would see a better view of the “kissing camels” where they would both look like it, but this is about the best.
PERMIT climbers only: I always think of my brother when I see authentic mountain climbers. Love and miss you, Montana!
We took the shuttle back to the visitor’s center.
3d model of Garden of the Gods with the various trails around it.
Interactive scat identifications
The “touch table” now had the horns of bighorn sheep. The ranger showed how the horn and bone of the skull grow over the years. I was surprised how heavy the “empty” horn was! Females also have horns, but they are thinner and smaller and won’t grow after about 4 or 5 years. The longest they will get is about a “half curl”.
JULY 15
We drove most of the perimeter loop road that we will soon be biking. It is a one-way road. We chose to park near the end of the loop in LOT 15 for the Balanced Rock feature.
The Balanced Rock was once owned privately! Curt & Paul Goerke (father & son) purchased the land around the rock to start their photography business. They charged 25 cents for each photo of tourists with the balance rock. They even supplied burros and sombreros for the pictures. When people started having their own cameras, the Goerkes put up a wooden fence around Balanced Rock and charge 25 cents admission. In 1932, the city of Colorado Springs purchased the property. A large crowd cheered when the barrier was removed.
Balanced Rock was so cool, and it was RIGHT there next to the parking lot! What a beautiful day.
Barry took our bikes off the rack and we set off to bike the entire perimeter road.
OMG the amount of uphill! Even on e-bikes, it was tough at this elevation together with the heat. But next we got a nice stretch of downhill!
A short pause for pictures.
We stopped at the Siamese Twins Trail parking lot 14 where we locked up our bikes to hike up the trail.
The bees sure liked these pretty purple flowers!
It really wasn’t a long hike. Even though I tried to rest a little every few minutes in some shade as we hiked up the 147 ft ascent. This hike was not easy for me after biking 95% of the perimeter road. BUT it was worth it!!
On our way back down, I looked back and the Siamese Twins kissed. 🙂
Final stretch back into Parking Lot 15 (Balance Rock)
We went back to the Visitor Center to explore the lower level.
WOW! A one and only found in the entire world was discovered here at Garden of the Gods in 1878, by James Kerr
We reverted to our inner child and enjoyed the 3d dinosaur photo area.
On our way back to the parking lot, we stopped to enjoy the pretty flowers and more. 🙂
We really enjoyed both days at Garden of the Gods! We lucked out with the weather because July 16 was stormy, windy and wet, so it was a laundry day. 🙂 We even had hail!
Coming up… The Royal Gorge Bridge!!
Great blog. Enjoy the Royal Gorge.