{"id":2302,"date":"2013-07-15T10:05:28","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T15:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/?p=2302"},"modified":"2013-07-16T18:29:06","modified_gmt":"2013-07-16T23:29:06","slug":"colorado-discoveries-6-garden-of-the-gods-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/07\/colorado-discoveries-6-garden-of-the-gods-park.html","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Discoveries 6: Garden of the Gods Park, Colorado Springs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>

A beautiful day at a beautiful park.<\/p><\/div>\n

While we were in Colorado in May to buy our house, we took some spare time to visit the Garden of the Gods park, which is along the western edge of Colorado Springs.<\/p>\n

The Garden of the Gods park<\/a> is a gift to the City of Colorado Springs. In 1879, Charles Elliot Perkins, the president of the Chicago, Quincy and Burlington Railroad, purchased the land that included the Garden of the Gods. He intended for the land to one day be used for a summer estate, but that plan never came to fruition. After his death, Perkins’ children conveyed the land, 480 acres worth, to the City of Colorado Springs. A plaque commemorating this is affixed to one of the rocks.<\/p>\n

\"Image:<\/a>

Image: Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

The park has a visitor and nature center that includes a 20-minute movie titled How Did Those Red Rocks Get There?<\/em> You can also look at a history of the geology of the park, along with the history of Native American reverence to the unusual rock formations.<\/p>\n

Even though the Garden of the Gods formations appear distinctive, in reality this geologic upheaval of hematite-impregnated rock exists all the way up and down the front range of the Rockies. The Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Denver is another example of the same geology.<\/p>\n

We have a fantastic view of the park from one of the roads near our house. We can drive westward and in the early morning the sun shines on those red rocks and it’s so beautiful<\/p>\n

Since we had a short time to visit the park, we did only the “Central Trails”, which you can see in blue on this map<\/a>. The Central Trails take you around the most distinctive of the rock formations, and the boys loved seeing all the rock climbers. These trails are relatively flat and are paved for great accessibility. Highly recommended for those with wheelchairs and strollers.<\/p>\n

\"Um...yeah...I<\/a>

Um…yeah…I don’t think I’ll be doing that anytime soon…two girls are ascending one of the Cathedral Spires.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_2995\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There are scores of other trails around the park that we can’t wait to further explore.<\/p>\n

\"Timmy<\/a>

Timmy wanted to look like he was stuck in the crevice.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Jacob<\/a>

Jacob looks like he’s surfing….<\/p><\/div>\n

We also enjoyed quite a bit of wildlife.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_3038\"<\/a>

This mule deer was grazing on the size of the road.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3028<\/a>

A rufous-sided towhee. They enjoy rummaging among the dead leaves.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_3005\"<\/a>

We saw these mule deer grazing next to one of the Central Trails.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_2970\"<\/a>

This is a western scrub jay, distinguished by the brown feathers on the back of his “neck”.<\/p><\/div>\n

We look forward to many more visits to the park. It’s a must-see for any visitors to Colorado Springs, between the history of the park, the geology and the wildlife, you can’t miss this!<\/p>\n

P.S.: My fingers kept wanting to type “Garden of the Dogs”…it turns out there’s a dog park that bears this name on Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While we were in Colorado in May to buy our house, we took some spare time to visit the Garden of the Gods park, which is along the western edge of Colorado Springs. The Garden of the Gods park is a gift to the City of Colorado Springs. In 1879, Charles Elliot Perkins, the president […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[100,386,394,158,37],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ycQ0-B8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4619,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2016\/08\/colorado-discoveries-50-palmer-trail-gotg.html","url_meta":{"origin":2302,"position":0},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 50: Get Away from the Crowds with the Palmer Trail at the Garden of the Gods","date":"04 August 16","format":false,"excerpt":"It is clear that the Garden of the Gods is among the most popular locations to visit in Colorado Springs. Trip Advisor will tell you that it's the #1 tourist attraction in Colorado Springs, ranking higher than Pikes Peak and the U.S. Olympic Center. I even wrote about Garden of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/1001911_10151780287113428_1881356352_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2866,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2014\/01\/colorado-discoveries-24-pikes-peak-highway.html","url_meta":{"origin":2302,"position":1},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 24: Pikes Peak Highway","date":"02 January 14","format":false,"excerpt":"Greetings! I hope everyone had a nice holiday season these past couple months. I've plenty of catching up to do! Last week my in-laws were in town to celebrate Christmas with us. We were grateful for their company and for their taking a chance with the weather to fly out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"That's the road we had just come up. Read on to learn more about the Pikes Peak Highway.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/DSC_0206-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2598,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/09\/colorado-discoveries-12-colorado-springs-pioneer-museum.html","url_meta":{"origin":2302,"position":2},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 12: The Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum","date":"27 September 13","format":false,"excerpt":"For a Cub Scout field trip, in mid-September our family visited the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum in the heart of downtown. The museum is free of charge (donations are always welcome), and has numerous artifacts from Colorado Springs' past and current histories. The interior of the museum is beautifully maintained,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"The Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum is in the old city hall. This museum reminded me of the Old Florida State Capitol.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/IMG_7448-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2695,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/10\/colorado-discoveries-17-spruce-mountain-open-space.html","url_meta":{"origin":2302,"position":3},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 17: Spruce Mountain Open Space","date":"29 October 13","format":false,"excerpt":"Colorado basks in their \"open spaces\". I'm not sure if it's a special category of park or what, but there are many in our community, and there are several between Colorado Springs and Denver. That's where my latest adventure took me. Just north of the towns of Monument and Palmer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"The parking lot was packed! You can see that it's not a huge \"mountain\".","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/IMG_0001_2-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4085,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2016\/04\/colorado-discoveries-48-cos-labor-day-balloon-fest.html","url_meta":{"origin":2302,"position":4},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 48: Colorado Springs Labor Day Liftoff Balloon Festival","date":"04 April 16","format":false,"excerpt":"In case you hadn't noticed, I don't write quite as much as I used to. Blame my full time work, but you can also blame this lack of motivation issue that I have these days. After a full day of work, I tend to come home, make dinner, and then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"Okay, so I was a bit of a madwoman photographing all the balloons.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/IMG_3347-e1459731847671-1024x787.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1691,"url":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/01\/getting-excited-about-colorado.html","url_meta":{"origin":2302,"position":5},"title":"Getting Excited about Colorado!","date":"15 January 13","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm back from Nebraska, the trip was pretty good. Uneventful...I feel relatively caught up on my Air Force Reserve life now. I'm looking forward to investigating some full-time AF work opportunities while I'm living in Colorado Springs. I learned through the grapevine that there's quite a bit to do, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"air force life\"","img":{"alt_text":"The boys and I are getting really excited about the mountain life!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Pikes_Peak_from_Garden_of_the_Gods-1024x685.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2302"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2369,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302\/revisions\/2369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}