» garden of the people
I'm not saying these rock formations weren't created by God(s), but if they were, they must have just been for some art class he took in 1st grade because you really need to use your imagination to figure out what some of them are supposed to be. For instance, without knowing the name of the "Kissing Camels" formation, a viewer would be hard pressed to describe it as anything more than a hole in the rocks near a couple of bumps. I guess God is just more of an abstract artist, rarely has he created anything that didn't look a bit random and natural. It's very very beautiful though, and I'm not just saying that because God could strike me dead at any moment.

Anyway, today the presence of man is much more obvious than the presence of God because it is a very small and crowded park. The land was given to Colorado Springs as long as the city agreed that it would always be free to the public, that alcohol consumption would be prohibited, it would be named "Garden of the Gods", and it would be kept in it's natural state. So, that's pretty cool, unless you're a total alcoholic.

Like I said, the park is quite small. We were only there for a few hours but had time to drive around the park several times and hike around all of the major formations.

Pikes Peak (14,115').

Climbers on the top of Cathedral Rock (aka Gray Rock aka Kindergarten Rock).

Zoomed out a bit.

The full, vertical shot. The climbers are in the faint white box near the top.

Standard view from the Visitor Center.

This is one of the most unique views in the park but it's looking southeast so I couldn't get a good shot in the morning light (this photo is an HDR shot, composed from multiple exposures).

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The Kissing Camels as seen from the Visitor Center.

View from the south.

Cathedral Rock from the Visitor Center.

The road.

Pikes Peak.

The Cathedral Spires.

Cathedral Rock in the morning light.