Colorado Springs, CO: Garden of the Gods Hike

Last time we were in Colorado (driving to Los Angeles for a summer internship) we stopped at Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs and just drove through. That was pretty cool, but it's even better to get out and hike through it. There are several miles of hiking trails in the park. Best of all, the park is free!

We stopped at the Visitor's Center to pick up a hiking trail map and to see if anyone had any recommendations. (There are also a couple of exhibits at the visitor's center, and a shop.) We wound up doing somewhere around 4-5 miles with the Palmer Trail leading to the Siamese Twins trail and then back through the Scotsman and Garden trails, to make a loop back to our parking lot.

We wound up with a nice day for hiking and the rain held off (we were worried it would rain and so carried our rain jackets with us the whole time, which proved unnecessary). I think Garden of the Gods is one of the coolest things I've seen so far in Colorado. Here are a bunch of photos to prove that:

The park also has a nice drive if you don't have time to get out and hike. It will let you see all the cool rock formations (like Balanced Rock, above) in quick fashion. And like I said, it's free. So next time you are near Colorado Springs, check it out!