Snow day!
Walk with me through a snowy, quiet Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Garden of the Gods is the #1 tourist spot in Colorado Springs. If you visit here, it is a must-see attraction. This free, centrally located park is where you walk among majestic red sedimentary rock formations. Whenever we have family or friends visiting, we always bring them to the park. It never fails to make me smile when I see their reactions.
However, being a popular tourist destination means that it is always busy. As a local, I have learned that the best times to visit are early morning around sunrise or on days with off-weather. Or, in this case, when the city gets 1-2 feet of snow.
I was happy to celebrate my 40th birthday with a snow day at home. Since we received a foot of snow at our house, I knew that the western side of town, in the foothills, received much more. So I told Adam that if we had a snow day the next day, I would like him to drive me to Garden of the Gods so that we could explore.
On Friday, March 15, 2024, Adam and I spent three hours of our snow day in the park. The gates were closed, so no vehicles were allowed on the roads. It was a unique experience to walk around the park without the usual traffic. Although we saw a few tourists, we were mostly alone. Other than one foggy day when I drove through the park, I’ve never seen Garden of the Gods so quiet and still.
We parked in the overflow lot, walked around the gate, and headed on the main road by foot. As we walked, I noted that there was close to two feet of snow on the ground.
We didn’t know where we wanted to hike or what we wanted to see. My only plan was to take pictures contrasting the white snow and skies with the red rocks. So we cut through the center of the park, between South Gateway Rock and Signature Rock, and decided right or left or trail or road for the time we were there.
We walked to Juniper Way Loop, the main road that circles the large rock formations. I really appreciated the park being closed to cars because I was able to photograph the rocks in a way I hadn’t before. It’s tough to stand in the middle of the road and take pictures when there’s a “traffic jam” of cars behind you. It’s just not possible.
I saw a view of the park online that I hadn’t seen before, realizing it was taken from Palmer Trail, which I hadn’t hiked before. We brought spikes and snow shoes, but left them in the car. I would have enjoyed hiking Palmer Trail with snow shoes, but hindsight is always 20-20.
It was still nice to get above the rocks and have a slightly different vantage point.
Palmer Trail wasn’t my favorite (I’m still seeking a different view… guess I need to hike a bit more in the park), so we hiked back down, continued on Juniper Way Loop, then decided to hike the Upper Loop Trail.
Because we were closer to the rocks, and hiking among the foliage, we ran into a few deer on the trail (lovingly referred to as “ladies).
As we hiked the Upper Loop Trail, we ran into a few more people. The views weren’t as quiet and peaceful, and we noticed some clouds expanding to the west.
At this point, I had taken over 500 pictures, we were in the park for three hours, it was later in the day and getting busy, and we had playoff college hockey that evening. So we decided to call it. Thank goodness we did because as we left the park, a tour bus showed up. I guess the early bird gets the worm.
I am so, so glad we went to Garden of the Gods this day. I now have a beautiful set of images from a place I call home. Happy 40th birthday to me!
Cheers.
That is truly beautiful in the snow! I don’t think I’ll ever get out there to see that park, but there is a Garden of Gods park in Southern Illinois, which I get to visit.
Beautiful work as always!