On the Trail Visiting another 'Garden of the Gods'
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have never visited Garden of the Gods in southern Illinois. But, I recently hiked Garden of the Gods in Colorado with my son, James, and it was amazing!
It's not that I have anything against "our" Garden of the Gods back in Illinois. Indeed, the two sites have a couple things in common, for sure. Both feature interesting rock formations with great views of the surrounding hills.
The Colorado version of Garden of the Gods is just west of Colorado Springs, probably almost literally in the city limits. Several southern Illinois folks that are familiar with Colorado highly recommended we visit the park.
So, after driving 14 hours from Carbondale to Colorado Springs, James and I got to the park at 5:45 a.m. July 4, and it was amazing! (Did I already say that?)
The Garden of the Gods is a National Natural Landmark, and the park's nature center website describes it well: "Imagine dramatic views, 300' towering sandstone rock formations against a backdrop of snow-capped Pikes Peak and brilliant blue skies."
The outstanding geologic feature of the park are the slabs of deep red, pink and white sandstone that were laid down horizontally but have been tilted vertically by the uplift of the Rocky Mountains and the Pike's Peak massif.
When the early morning sun hits these sandstone "fins," they literally light-up, almost like they are glowing, surrounded by the still pre-dawn darkness of scrub around them. In this case, pictures are indeed worth a thousand words. Of course, like all things of incredible beauty, the effect was fleeting and only lasted a precious, few minutes.
The 1,300-acre park has a network of trails, but the Central Garden Trails lead around the majority of the 19 named rock formations. And views of Pike's Peak are pretty spectacular on a clear day.
James and I also walked a portion of the Palmer Trail and watched a pair of young mule deer bucks "frolic" within just 50 feet of us. The birds along the trail seemed pretty indifferent to us, as well. Notable species for me were the black-billed magpies, a scrub jay and several spotted towhees. There was also a familiar American robin feeding on berries and hundreds of chimney swifts flying far above us.
When James and I arrived at just after sunrise there were maybe 3 other cars in the parking lot. As we were leaving, around 7:30 there were probably over 100 cars in the lot.
Proof, as always, that early birds get the worms, and get to see glowing sandstone rock formations.
• Mike Baltz has a PhD in biology from the University of Missouri and writes about changing the world from his home in Carbondale.