Visit to the Garden of the Gods

After we spent one more night in Silt, Colorado, another hotel deal lead us on 17th of July to Centennial in Colorado which is in the tech center of Denver where we stayed for the following three days.

On one of the days we drove to a nearby attraction called the Garden of the Gods which is located in Colorado Springs (the car journey from Denver to the attraction takes about an hour).

The Garden of the Gods is a city park that contains beautiful red rock formations.

Photo of Siamese Twins at Garden of the Gods
Photo is for Sale – click on image

In the mid-19th century the surveyor called Rufus Cable explored the site together with his companion and he was so struck by the beauty of this site that he suggested it be called the Garden of the Gods as it was a place where gods assemble. It is a popular site to do mountain biking, rock climbing and hiking. You can find several easy to moderate hiking trails there.

What makes this park so special and popular are three reasons. One is the obvious beauty of the nature, the second is that the trails are easily accessible and the third reason is that it is free to enter.

In the late 19th century Charles C Perkins purchased a large part of the land where the park is located today and upon his death his family donated the land to the city with the condition that it shall always be free for the people.

Garden of the Gods

We arrived there in the morning before 10am as we wanted to participate in the free nature walk. As it was July, it was already very busy. There were only a few spots left at the visitor center. We picked up a map and thereafter drove to the Northern Parking lot from where the walks start from. Unfortunately there weren’t any parking spots left and we had to drive further south along the Garden Drive and eventually ended up finding a parking space near the Scotsman Picnic area. We ended up being too late for the 10am nature walk. Officially they provide the free nature walks at 10am and at 2pm. To our luck they also provided additional walks at other times of the day when it is a busy time of the year. We joined the next walk at 11am.

Path of Nature Walk

Our guide was very good and he really brought the story of the park to life and gave you a good insight into the nature. During the tour you walk right in between the rocks. They reminded us of those you can find in Arizona and Utah. They are just on a more compact and smaller scale at the Garden of the Gods. Along the walk we passed various visitors and rock climbers. Some of the rocks are not so big which makes them ideal for beginning climbers.

The nature walk was approx. 30 minutes long and afterwards our guide directed us to the Chambers/Bretag/Palmer Trail which is a moderate hiking trail that sort of circles around park. We crossed the road near the Sentinel Rock and then turned right. If you continue along this trail you come back near the top of the Northern Parking Lot. It is perfect to get a good viewpoint and to photograph the Garden of the Gods.

Trail Sign

After we had walked along this trail for a while and once we reached a good viewpoint, we headed back down as we also wanted to do the Siamese Twins Trail which is a little bit south of the park.

We parked at the nearby Spring Canyons Parking Area and then hiked up to the twins. Overall are the hiking trails in the park not so long and difficult, however the heat in the summer makes it a little bit harder.

There weren’t so many cars at the parking area near the Siamese Twins. The hike to the rocks is really worth as it gives you some good viewpoints and you can take a photo through the twins.

Once we finished the hike we drove out of the park through the South where the famous balanced rock is. There were many people gathered around the rock and the traffic was very slow on our way out so we didn’t actually had to stop to get a good photograph of the balanced rock.

This photograph shows you the balanced rock at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

We can highly recommend visiting this park, although due to its popularity, it is probably best to be seen in the week during the off season.

Details for the visit of the park

Opening hours of the park:

May – Oct: 5 am until 11pm

Nov – Apr: 5 am until 9pm

Note: The opening hours of the Visitor Center are different from the hours of the park!

Address Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center

1805 N 30th St

Colorado Springs, CO 80904, United States

Click here to visit the website of the park

View of Garden of the Gods from Palmer Trail

This is the 6^th part of our US Cross Country Road Trip Adventure from the West Coast to the East Coast.

You can see the other parts (articles/videos/photos) here

On 15^th of July 2014, we continued our journey from Heber City in Utah to Silt-Rifle in Colorado.

When you are on the road, you sometimes need to allow yourself to let loose and travel without a plan.

Prior to our road trip adventure we thought of a few points of interest to visit but overall we kept our plans free. Let’s see what we can see…

Flower at Maroon Bells Scenic Area

The ski resort Aspen was next on our list. We stayed at a hotel in Silt right next to the Colorado River. The day before we looked a bit into the visit to Aspen but overall didn’t really feel like wandering past designer stores and trendy cafés and restaurants.

At one point we suddenly found the Maroon Bells Recreation Area which is near Aspen. The name Maroon Bells sounded like a mix of a band and a TV series. They are two mountain peaks in the Elk Mountains and received this name because of the red colour on the rocks and their bells like shape.

Over the past 8 years we have travelled extensively around the USA but we never heard of it.

The next morning we headed to the mountains. From Silt it took us about an hour in our minivan until we reached the Maroon Bells Interpretive Center at the Aspen Highlands Village.

Highlands Center Maroon Bells Recreation Center

You can reach it from Aspen by car in less than 10 minutes (see more details at the end of this article).

To preserve the nature one can only explore the recreation area by bus during the day in the summer which is from mid-June until Labor Day (Labor Day is the first Monday in September). There is limited access for vehicles when the buses are not operating.

We parked our car for free outside of the Maroon Bells Interpretive Center at the Aspen Highlands Village and then purchased our ticket inside the center (the building adjacent to the parking lot).

It was a Wednesday and at the ticket counter a friendly staff member told us that it was half price Wednesday which was pretty cool. Was an even better day ahead of us?

Maroon Bells Bus

The entrance fee includes the free shuttle bus that takes you around the recreation area.

We boarded the bus and drove all the way up until the station near Maroon Lake.

Up there a friendly staff member took a photo of us with the beautiful bells and the lake in the background.

It immediately felt like a very special place.

From the lake you can do four types of hikes:

1. Maroon Lake Trail

An  easily accessible trail which starts shortly after the parking lot. You simply have to head to the lake.
Length: It is a 1 mile round trip hike along the lake
Difficulty level: Easy

Maroon Lake Trail

2. Falls Loop Trail

The second trail starts at the top end of the lake just after the bridge and leads you past cascading waterfalls and the quiet of a beaver pond.
Length: 1.5 mile round trip
Difficulty level: Easy

3. Maroon Creek Trail

This beautiful trail leads you downstream along Maroon Creek.
Length: 3.2 miles one way hike
Difficulty level: Easy

Maroon Creek Trail Sign

4. Crater Lake Trail

Number four is for more advanced hikers leading you along a steep and rocky trail past the Deadly Bells Kiosk and one has to climb on an ancient rockslide.
Length: 3.6 miles round trip
Difficulty level: Moderate

All the trails were signposted and you can get a free map of the area and trails at the Maroon Bells Interpretive Center.

Initially we walked a little bit along the first trail. It was fairly busy there but not like a visit to the Grand Canyons.

Although we travel a lot, we really like it when there are hardly any tourists around and so we headed to the beginning of the third trail as we guessed that most people would not want to do the long trail.

The Maroon Creek Trail starts at a bridge just off the lake. It was a wonderful hike. We guessed correctly as there were hardly any people around. We only met two couples along the way! It sort of leads you the way back down just a bit further in and from where the bus drove up to the lake.

Trees along Maroon Creek Trail

At first the hike was shaded underneath forest trees and bit by bit, more beauty was revealed. This hike is good for wildlife sightings although we only saw a beaver which quickly ran past us.

The trail ends at Maroon Creek Road at the East Maroon Portal from where you can take the next bus back to the Center. Make sure you go to the road.

Important!

It is best to start this hike in the morning instead of the afternoon because the buses near the end of the operating hours may be too full and so the bus drivers cannot take you with them.

A visit in the summer is a great time to see the nature and it is probably also very picturesque in autumn.

The day at the bells felt really special and we can highly recommend a visit.  It seemed like nature at its best something that the state of Colorado has plenty of.

Mountains along the path

How to get from Aspen to the Aspen Highlands Village:

A free shuttle service takes you from the RFTA Rubey Park Transportation Center in Aspen to it (departs every 20 minutes starting on the hour).

Maroon Bells Entrance Tickets

Entrance tickets to the Maroon Bells Recreation Area:

Adults: USD 6.00
Children under 6 and seniors: USD 4.00

Bus schedule from the Maroon Bells Interpretive Center to Maroon Lake

Operating hours: 9am to 5pm
Frequency of buses: Every 20 to 30 minutes.

Times/months of the year the buses are operating:
Mid-June to Labour Day: buses run daily
After Labour Day  until September service only commences on Friday’s, Saturday’s and Sunday’s.

Follow this link to visit the website of the Maroon Bells Scenic Area

Maroon Creek