Garden of the Gods is a public park situated in Colorado Springs, Southern Illinois, United States. The name of the park was said to be originally received in the month of August in 1859 after two surveyors were walking around the surrounding landscape while they were selected to help set up a nearby Colorado City. It was said that after the two surveyors found the location, one of them suggested that it should become a capital place for a beer garden but the two were astounded by the weird rock formations, and one of them made a statement that “the place was a fit place for the gods to meet” and so they called it the Garden of the Gods. It has become one of the most sought after destinations in Colorado. The surrounding wilderness area is over 320 million years old and stretches across 3,300 acres of beautiful old growth forest and the sediment rock in this area is over 4 miles deep. Visiting this location will be a wonderful experience, it can show you things you have never experienced before and once you go to the Garden of the Gods, maps are provided for its guest all year round.
The location is particularly famous for its outstanding geological features. The eroded rocks has made some unique rock formations that have formed into a number of things with various colors such as purple, blue, red and white sandstones. Many prehistoric fossils of plants and dinosaurs have also been found at this site. Some of the most unusual looking rock formations are hogs back and the kissing camel. Hogs back is particularly named so because it resembles the back of a pig, and ‘the kissing camel’ resembles two very large camels sitting face to face with their lips touching. Another popular figure is the ‘balancing rock’ or ‘balanced rock’ which features a large rock resting on other rocks which appears to be balanced but instead it is firmly connected to the bedrock by a stem
The magnificence of the rock formations in the garden appeals to numerous rock climbers to visit annually while many visit the destination due to the fact that it contains a lot of trails for mountain biking, walking, hiking and horseback riding. Some of the trails such as Perkins have been paved off to counteract the erosion of the central garden caused by visitors. The Garden of the Gods has two main trail systems, the observation trail and the river-to-river trail, observation trail being the best known trail. The observation trail consist of a 25 mile stone trail which leads to a set of location where you can look over to the Garden of the Gods wilderness area and views of extraordinary rock formations.
There is a lot of history behind the landscape formation of these trails. There are other trails that lead to locations such as Big H, Indian Point, Anvil Rock, and Mushroom Rock. These trails merge together for about five and a half miles and are interconnecting. River-to-River, the second main trail, enters the east end of the park from High Knob just below the camping area and continues to the west crossing the blacktop to the Observation Trail area. The River-to-River Trail then extends to the south below the rock formations, before bearing west again and then continues for 8 miles to Herod. When leaving Garden of the Gods, there is a good camping area about one and a half miles to the west that has a stream for water, then there is no more water for 3 miles. Outside of the rocks the destination has a unique blend of plants and wildlife from the grasslands, foothills and mountains that many enjoy to visit.
