A view of Garden of the Gods showing some of its unusual hogback formations.

The Garden of the Gods is a public park located in Colorado Springs. It contains red sandstone hogback formations, similar to the Red Rocks south of Denver. The name Colorado is said to come from the color of this sandstone. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2240x1488, 866 KB) Summary Robert Corby on a family vacation. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2240x1488, 866 KB) Summary Robert Corby on a family vacation. ... For the Korean family name Park, see Korean name. ... Colorado Springs is a middle-sized city, located just east of the geographic center of the state of Colorado in the United States. ... For red sandstone see: Old Red Sandstone New Red Sandstone This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Red Rocks is a mountain park to the southwest of Denver, where very large, dark red boulders seem to sprout from the earth. ... Denver skyline, 1999. ... State nickname: The Centennial State Other U.S. States Capital Denver Largest city Denver Governor Bill Owens (R) Senators Wayne Allard (R) Ken Salazar (D) Official languages English Area 269,837 km² (8th)  - Land 268,879 km²  - Water 962 km² (0. ... Sandstone near Stadtroda, Germany Sandstone is an sedimentary rock composed mainly of feldspar and quartz and varies in colour (in a similar way to sand), through grey, yellow, red, and white. ...

The hogbacks are ridges of sandstone, whose layers are tilted. Instead of lying horizontally, some layers are even vertically oriented. Each hogback can range up to several hundred feet long, some as tall as 50 feet from ground level. Their shapes indeed resemble the backs and spines of a pig. Species Sus barbatus Sus bucculentus Sus cebifrons Sus celebensis Sus domesticus Sus heureni Sus philippensis Sus salvanius Sus scrofa Sus timoriensis Sus verrucosus Pigs are ungulates native to Eurasia collectively grouped under the genus Sus within the Suidae family. ...

Entrance to the park is free. It contains numerous trails for hiking, walking, mountain biking and horseback riding. Many of the most popular trails are paved, in an effort to combat the rapant erosion of the park's land caused by its numerous visitors. Beautiful natural scenes are common hiking destinations Hiking is a form of walking, undertaken with the specific purpose of exploring and enjoying the scenery. ... Walking is the main form of animal locomotion on land, distinguished from running and crawling. ... Mountain biking is the sport of riding bicycles off paved roads. ... horse, see Horse (disambiguation). ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, movement in response to gravity, or living organisms (in the case of bioerosion). ...

Because of the unusual and steep rock formations in the park, it is an attractive goal for rock climbers. Rock climbing is permitted, but because of the sometimes unstable condition of the sandstone—particularly after a great deal of precipitation—several fatalities have occurred over the years. The rocks are green and pink. This article discusses how rocks are formed. ... Climbers on Valkyrie at the Roaches. ...

A view from the Visitor's Center, with Pike's Peak in the background.

Near the entrance to the park is Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site, a recreation of rustic ranch of the late 1800s. The walking tour features a restored ranch house, demonstrations of smithing and facts about Native American activity in the area, including a small recreation of a Native American campsite. Unlike Garden of the Gods, Rock Ledge Ranch charges a small entrance fee. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2450x1052, 814 KB) Summary Garden of the Gods, Colorado. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2450x1052, 814 KB) Summary Garden of the Gods, Colorado. ... Pikes Peak (formerly Pikes Peak, see below) is a mountain in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. ... Ranching is the raising of cattle or sheep on rangeland, although one might also speak of ranching with regard to less common livestock such as elk, bison or emu. ... Events and Trends Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815). ... Blacksmith Blacksmith at work Blacksmith at work Blacksmiths fire Hot metal work from a blacksmith A blacksmith is an artisan specializing in the hand-wrought manufacture of ferrous (iron) metal objects, such as wrought iron gates, grills, railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture, weapons, decorative and religious items, cooking utensils... Native Americans is a term which has several different common meanings and scope, according to regional use and context. ... Campsites are often situated in or near forests. ...

The name

Many people assume the name comes from a native American name for the area. In fact, the name of the park only dates back to August 1859 when two surveyors helping to set up nearby Colorado City were exploring the nearby areas. Upon discovering the site, one of the surveyors, M. S. Beach, suggested that it would be a "capital place for a beer garden". His companion, the young Rufus Cable, awestruck by the impressive rock formations, exclaimed, "Beer Garden! Why it is a fit place for the gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods." The beer garden never materialized, but the name stuck. 1859 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... Surveying is concerned with the application of mathematics and physics in obtaining accurate measurements for the determination of the position of points on the Earths surface. ... A beer garden (or in the German language, Biergarten) is an open-air drinking establishment that originated in Bavaria, where beer gardens in general are distinguished from traditional beer gardens today. ... The term God is capitalized in the English language as a proper noun when used to refer to a specific monotheistic concept of a supernatural Supreme Being in accordance with Christianity. ...

External link

• Official Garden of the Gods website