Bones of Ancient Mountains and Threatening Skies in Garden of the Gods

 There is a profound sense of awe in wandering among the red monoliths of Garden of the Gods early in the morning. These towering sandstone fins are actually the eroded bones of an ancient, long-vanished mountain range, thrust up and sculpted over millions of years into dramatic shapes. With the early light framing the distant Rampart Range through the natural stone arches, we set out to explore the park before the August heat—and as it turned out, some very serious Colorado weather—arrived.

Framing the distant foothills through the morning sandstone.

Our first stop was the famous Balanced Rock, where testing our strength against 700 tons of ancient stone quickly became a mandatory photo ritual for the entire family.

Putting in the heavy lifting at Balanced Rock.

Paxton stepping up for his turn holding up the boulder.

Everyone took a turn playing Atlas, trying out different angles and viewpoints around the giant boulder field.

Aligning the shot behind the lens.

Surveying the red rock kingdom from high ground.

Even with the sheer weight of the rock looming over us, nobody seemed to break a sweat during our morning workouts.

Snapping the best vantage points in the park.

Taking on the 700-ton boulder without breaking a sweat.

Moving into the Central Garden area, the golden hour light really brought out the rich crimson hues of the stone walls as we strolled along the paved paths between the giant fins.

A quiet moment framed by the towering rocks.

Walking the paved trails through the giant sandstone fins.

Crisp morning light highlighting the red sandstone towers.

 Ancient stone monoliths reaching straight for the morning sky.

Jagged red rock thrusting straight through the tree line.

Looking closely along the trail edges revealed plenty of native summer flora and birds returning to high roosts in the vertical rock faces.

Spotting native wildflowers blooming along the trail edge.

A rock dove rests up for her next flight.

Rock doves circling back to their sandstone perches.

As we continued down the path, we bumped into a pair of curious mule deer fawns grazing in the brush, completely unbothered by the human visitors passing by.

Mule deer fawns caught having breakfast. 

Oops! It seems that they caught me! 

Helen and Graham – candidly caught on the trail ahead.

They caught me trying to get a candid shot!

Yahaira and Eric find a cool place to pose for a portrait.

Higher up on the monoliths, rock doves watched us from high perches while parkgoers navigated the rock scrambles below.

A trio of pigeons taking in the view from the heights.

High-altitude sentries resting on weathered sandstone peaks.

Colorado sandstone showing off against the mountain pine backdrop.

Wandering the rocks at Garden of the Gods is always a treat - one never knows what you will find. 

Mother Nature’s pocket change embedded into the cliff face.

There is so much to see and to do and there is a scenic change for a selfie and a  rock to scramble over at every turn. 

Catching Eric and Yahaira lining up
their quintessential rock shot selfie.

Eric and Yahaira strolling through the boulders.

Paxton, navigating the sandstone,
scrambles like a seasoned pro.

By mid-morning, however, the sky began to dark and look increasingly menacing. Not wanting to get caught in a high-country downpour, we decided to wrap up our loop and head back north toward Denver while the roads were still dry.

Wrapping up an incredible morning hike before the midday crowds.

It turned out to be a brilliant decision. Shortly after we made it safely back home to Denver, the storm clouds unleashed absolute chaos along I-25, dropping a staggering three feet of hail in parts of Douglas County! We certainly counted ourselves lucky to have traded an afternoon storm for a perfect morning among ancient stone.

Wherever your travels take you today, may you always time your journeys well and outrun the storm.

Don Bergquist – 15 August 2026 – Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA