Garden of the Gods is one of the sites that I visited with my parents when I was seven years old. I don't remember many details of that trip, but I do remember enjoying the area. Coming from the flatlands of Nebraska, this rocky area was of immense interest. Though sublimated, I'm sure that the personal impact of this fabulous little city park has remained with me over the years.

Visitor Center

1:36 p.m.
We stopped at the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center. It’s a nice, modern facility with lots of information available on surrounding attractions and activities. They have a staffed Information counter and lots of educational exhibits. There is also a nature center in the building, and public restrooms.

1:56 p.m.
After we left the Visitor Center we entered the park through the eastern entrance. This is a busy area, with lots of people out jogging and hiking and walking their dogs. There is a wide meadow, with the famous red rocks of the "garden" rising toward the west. There is a one-way paved road that winds through the outskirts of the main rock area, and down through the park, passing by the major features and trailhead parking areas. We did a quick drive through to scope out the landscape and determine where we wanted to hike, then headed back toward the north.

Siamese Twins/Spring Canyon Trail

2:14 p.m.
Our first stop was the Spring Canyon Trailhead.

2:38 p.m.
We hiked the one mile Siamese Twins/Spring Canyon Trail. It was a nice walk over a natural surface, with a short climb up a weathered slope to reach the elevation of the Siamese Twins formation. The trail is washed out and rough in some areas, with some potentially slippery rocks rolling around. The total elevation gain is 150 feet. There are red rock formations all along the trail, but the Siamese Twins is the most prominent. As expected, there were quite a few tourists enjoying the main rock formations.

We went in a clockwise direction, and the trail descended steeply from there, back to the paved parking area. There are restroom facilities (chemical toilets) but they were locked on this day. Perhaps because of the cold temperatures.

Balanced Rock

2:41 p.m.
Next we drove to Balanced Rock. This was a crowded area and the sun was so low in the sky that it was difficult to see as we drove into the parking area, which is mostly along the side of the road. This was not the Balanced Rock that I remembered from my trip here in 1957. This one seems more massive and has a broader base. I remember one that was shaped more like a top. But my memory may be warped by 53 years of Colorado Plateau landscapes.

It was hard to get a good photo in this area on this day because of the number of tourists wanting to get their photo taken near the famous rock. It was more like a county fair than a natural setting.

From there we drove back toward the north end of the Park and left the Tacoma in the large parking area at the trailhead of the Perkins Central Garden Trail. There are restrooms near this parking area, but they were not in good repair and weren't very clean. People can be such pigs.

Perkins Central Garden Trail

3:46 p.m.
We completed our walk along the Perkins Central Garden Trail, and found it enjoyable, in spite of the number of people along this paved pathway. The path runs for 1.5 miles round trip, with only a 30 foot gain in elevation. I suspect that it’s the most popular walk within the park because it passes beneath the most spectacular collection of tilted red rocks within the park.

The rock formations here are quite interesting in that they are tilted at an extreme angle and weathered into jagged edges that give a knife edge effect in some cases, or needles in another.

There were also lots of birds, and deer, but I expect that in other seasons there are even more critters scampering or flying about.

There were several sets of rock climbers there on this day, although rock climbing is prohibited except by experienced climbers. The weather was cool, but comfortable, and we enjoyed the little walk.