Garden of the Gods
Colorado Springs, CO
A public park featuring dramatic red sandstone formations that were deposited in a horizontal position and tilted vertically by the same geological forces that created the Rocky Mountains. Balanced Rock and Kissing Camels are among the most photographed features. Pikes Peak provides a stunning backdrop to the red rock formations.
Photography Guide
- Best Time
- golden hour
- Crowds
- Busy
- Shot Types
- widelandscapedetailportrait
- Best Seasons
- springsummerfallwinter
Author's Comments
The first time I came to Garden of the Gods I made the mistake almost everyone makes. I arrived mid-morning, parked near Balanced Rock, and tried to photograph the formations with the sun already high and the light already flat. The red did not sing. The shadows were everywhere and nowhere. I left thinking the place was overrated. I came back the next morning before sunrise and understood what I had missed. The formations face east, and in the first twenty minutes after the sun crests the plains, the sandstone goes from rust to ember to something almost lit from within. Pikes Peak rises behind the western fins still blue and cold, and the contrast between the warm rock and the cool mountain is the photograph this park was built to give you. You have maybe forty minutes before the light flattens out and the crowds arrive, and those forty minutes are worth the early alarm. Winter is underrated here. The red against fresh snow is a color combination I have not found anywhere else in Colorado, and the park empties out in a way it never does in summer. I have walked the central garden trail in January with my breath fogging and not seen another person for an hour. The reservation system is real but only applies to vehicles. Bike in. Walk in from the visitor center. The park is more honest at the pace of a body moving through it anyway, and the formations reveal themselves slowly, from angles the parking lots do not offer.
Gallery
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