I was lucky enough to visit Garden of the Gods on a summer trip to Colorado with my family. It is absolutely breathtaking and a place I will never forget. I had done some minor research before going and there are things I definitely wish I would have known before going. Here are my tips for visiting Garden of the Gods with little ones.

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Know Before You Go

Weather

You are going to want to know what the weather is going to be before heading out. Garden of the Gods is completely outside. Whether you visit in summer (like we did) or winter, you will want to know if its going to rain and you will want to know the temperature to dress accordingly. Being from Miami, we are pretty accustomed to heat HOWEVER we don’t spend too much time outdoors in the heat so my little ones got all kinds of cranky.

It wasn’t even that hot but we got there just before noon and the sun was shining nice and bright. It felt way hotter than it actually was. In retrospect, packing them some hats probably would helped but I didn’t. Also, pack plenty of water and snacks.

Parking at Garden of the Gods

There are a couple of different lots around Garden of the Gods. The main one is near the visitor Center. Plan to get there early if you want to snag one of these spots. I suggest walking the formations either first thing so you miss the brutal heat. If you are walking the monuments first, park right next them. That way you can do the main loop and even the surrounding loops then drive back up to the visitor center for lunch, restrooms, and a movie.

If you plan to start at the visitor center, plan to wait around for parking. There is an overflow parking lot between the monuments and the visitor center (which is where we parked) but I do not recommend if you have little ones. Its a walk to get to the formations AND to the visitor center and it is not paved. If you care about getting dirty, definitely try not to park here. That wasn’t my issue. Its just not close to anything we wanted to see so when the kids started acting up we had a long walk (about 20 minutes) to get to the car. Thats no fun with 2 crying babies.

Cost

Completely FREE. Both the park and Visitor center are free and open to everyone! There are activities that you can pay for but if you just want to walk around and enjoy the formations, you pay absolutely nothing!

Hours

The park is open from 5am – 9pm from Nov – April and open from 5am – 10pm from May – October. The visitor center has its own hours. Visitor center hours are 9am – 5pm in the Winter and 8am – 5pm in the Summer.

Plan Your Day

With little ones, I suggest planning out what you want to see at Garden of the Gods before getting there. There are several loops to see different monuments from different angles, you can even hike some of the monuments and rock climb. Know what you want to do and see before starting your day. This is going to save precious time and ensure you do the most important things. Unfortunately, I did not make a plan so we only got to do the main loop but we got some incredible memories from just being there so I’m not mad about it.

The Visitor Center

The visitor center is definitely worth a visit. They have loads of information about the monuments, and their history. They even have a movie you can watch. This is also where you can get a map or get tickets for other activities at the monuments.

What to do

There’s a couple different options for how to enjoy the monuments. You can walk, hike, take a trolley, rock climb, or bike. You can get all the info for these options and buy your tickets at the visitor center. Most of the the tours can only be booked on the same day so get there early. Check out their website for the most up to date information.

Walk

We chose to walk. Since we did not plan ahead all the tickets for the tram were sold out and the tram only drove around the outside. We (or maybe just me) wanted to walk through the monuments and really experience them up close.

We walked the main loop. It took about 15 minutes just to walk to the monuments and then we let our little guy get of the stroller and run around. He climbed some rocks, jumped off some rocks, he ran through som rocks, I mean he had so much fun with the rocks.

There are areas in that main loop where you can get up close and personal with some small formations. You can climb some of them, and walk through them. There are other formation along the main loop where you can only admire the formations from a far. The main loop really has everything you are hoping for if you don’t get to see anything else.

If you have older kids or your littles are up for it, hike some of the surrounding formations. I wish we would have had the opportunity because I looked really cool and we don’t really have hiking in Miami. By the time we could have walked out to a loop further down, it was too hot and nap time (poor planning no my part, DON’T BE ME). My toddler started having a meltdown and then the baby decided to chime in so we knew it was time to go.

Hike

You can choose to hike some of the other loops and get up close and personal to some of the large formations. They are clearly marked on the map you get from the visitor center.

Rock Climb

You can climb some of the formations. We actually saw some people climbing and it looked SUPER cool. You can pay for that at the visitor center and even get a guide. It’s about an hour and a half and $79 per person. You can even take your own gear (I think) but you still have to fill out a registration form so don’t forget to do that.

Bike

You can bring your own bike or take a tour. If you bring your own, check the website. There are some rules and regulations to follow so check in at the activities desk in the Visitor center to get all the info.

Segway

The Segway tour takes 90-120 minutes and depart every hour. They cost $92 per person and you get a guide.

Jeep

There are 2 different Jeep tours you can choose from. There’s the Rock and History tour for $40 that’s a bout 90 minutes and an off road tour for $75 per person that’s 120 minutes.

Trolley

They have trolley tours starting every hour on their open air trolleys. They are $17 and only seat 14 people.

There is just so much to do and see at Garden of the Gods it can easily take an entire day. so I’ve you’re only in Colorado Spring for one day, make this THE thing to do. You will remember it always.

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For other things to do in Colorado, check out my other other posts.