Garden of the Gods, Colorado

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay





Garden of the Gods, Colorado Entrance to the park. Pikes Peak is in the background.
Garden of the Gods, Colorado A visitor center has exhibits on the geology and natural history.
Garden of the Gods, Colorado View west from the visitor center.
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Looking north along the hogbacks. The Rocky Mountain front is a large monoclinal fold that finally faulted. The fault is not between the contact between the sandstones and Precambrian rocks, but within the sandstones. West of the fault the unconformity between the sandstones and underlying Precambrian crystalline rocks can be seen in a number of places. One nearby locality is on U.S. 24 at Manitou Springs a few kilometers to the west.
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado View south along the Rocky Mountain front from the south end of the park
Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Thin blades of upturned sandstone are the most famous features of Garden of the Gods.
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Balanced Rock is a famous attraction at Garden of the Gods. It's not quite as precarious as it looks because it's actually attached by a fairly long rib of rock.

Note that the layers here are gently dipping. There are no hogbacks in this area, which is west of the fault. These rocks are resting unconformably on Precambrian crystalline rocks, and the contact is exposed a few kilometers to the west at Manitou Springs.
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado The rock looks a lot more precarious when seen end-on, the usual vantage point for pictures.
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Colorado Springs.
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Rocky Mountain foothills from the south end of the park.
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Nearby Pike's Peak, easily the most user-friendly 14,000 foot peak in the U.S., adds to the scenic appeal of Garden of the Gods.
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Garden of the Gods, Colorado
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Outcrops along U.S. 24 in Colorado Springs.
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Note the low angle normal fault.

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Created 14 July 2003, Last Update 07 June 2020