Monday, March 14, 2011

Garden of the Gods




"Winter is gone and Spring is on ...", yah that's what I have been humming since last week. The sun is bright and everything is so positive including the weather. I could finally dare to shed some clothes (read woolens). J and I thought that it was insane to waste the time indoors but we were not very sure where to head out. It being only the second week of March, most National/ State Parks are closed or had restricted access.



J came up with a plan to visit the "Garden of the Gods". I was very amused by the name itself and wondered if the garden had hundreds of intoxicating "Parijata" trees. Parijata is a divine tree as has several mentions in the Hindu Mythology. Since I was clueless about the place we played a guessing game. I guessed everything possible about the place. And after two hours of drive there we were standing before the gates of the "Garden of the God's".And you don't have to be a saint to get access into it. Everyone's welcome to this garden. It was nothing close to what I had imagined ..... but it was spectacular. Yah probably God carved this beautiful place in the middle of nowhere !!
We walked into the Visitor Centre and picked up some pamphlet ...... the information helped us go around this beautiful place.


J posing with the 'Imbalanced Rock'

It was a garden of majestic red rocks with the Pike Peaks at the background.One has to see it to believe it !! It has something for everybody .... the nature lover can spend hours gazing at the natural beauty of the park and the red rocks. The park is also the home to many beautiful birds. If you are lucky enough you can capture them in your camera and bring them home.

That's me on the rocks ... trying hard to balance and pose for the camera

It is an exciting place for the rock climbers. It's thrilling to watch them make it to the peak of some of these huge rocks. Also if you are not so much into climbing you can trek the many beautiful trails in the park or cycle around the park.
It is also a photographer's paradise ....... And it is just a great place to hang out for the romantics at heart.

A Rock Climber

How to get there ?
The Garden of God's is about an hour drive from Denver, Colorado. Admission to the park is free.

What is the best time to visit the place ?
I think spring is the best time to visit the place. It may get very hot during the summer months.Visitors receive frequent reminders to watch out for rattlesnakes in the hot days of summer. But with the unpredictable Colorado weather, make sure you check it before planning for a visit.


Activities within the park
Nature watching, Rock Climbing - Rock climbing is permitted, with annual permit obtained at the Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center, Cycling, Trekking , Photography, Bird watching.

Nearby Attractions
Seven Falls
Pikes Peak

35 comments:

Kankana said...

That looks like a fun place to visit !!! Oh I know how you feel about the winter gone and spring on! :D

Plateful said...

The pictures are beautiful and the landscape is stunning, especially loved the last one with the lil bird! Spring is such a beauty in itself, right? I see that you had a lovely time, nice!

Unknown said...

The Clicks looks awesome..wonderful place to visit..Enjoy Have funnnnn

Suja Manoj said...

Beautiful pictures dear..wonderful place to visit.

Suji said...

wow,, awesome Sats..Beautiful place and awesome pictures :)

Elaichii said...

Hey thought you were in NewEngland,moved to colorado? beautiful pics!

Rachu said...

awesome pics...good you mentioned you were balancing and posing in the pic.. else it looked superimposed. Great photography, great rocks.. great garden!
ammaandbaby.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

WOW!! Awesome photography, Satrupa..I would love to visit this place sometime..Beautiful!!

Sushma Mallya said...

Lovely Pics, seems like u had a lot of fun:)

Anonymous said...

wow what an awesome place, stunning landscape, beautiful place

Pari Vasisht said...

Lovely! great place to visit.
FOODELICIOUS

Raks said...

Lovely clicks! Thanks for sharing!

My Kitchen Antics said...

awesome pics..
'on the rocks' i liked that caption ;)

Anju Rathore said...

nice clicks specially the one where J is trying to push that small rock :-)

Chitra said...

;)Lovely clicks , hope u njoyed till the core

Unknown said...

beautiful

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

Amazing clicks...love your presentation Satrupa..
Tasty Appetite

Aruna Manikandan said...

wow...
lovely shots dear :)

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

stop over n pick up an award plz..dear
Tasty Appetite

Only Fish Recipes said...

first time here....wow...u hav such a beauatiful space and a wonderful collection of recipes....I would love to pass on an award Galore to you. Plz visit my space and collect it !

Sneha Benny said...

Beautiful Pictures !!!

http://inspirationalartofcooking.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

Award is waiting for u in my Blog
Collect it

vandana rajesh said...

Lovely pics...can see that u had a gr8 time:)

marianna franchi said...

Bellissime queste foto! E che avventura, non so cosa darei per avere la possibilità di trascorrere una vacanza in un posto così! Un abbraccio e buon fine settimana

Nandinis food said...

Wow! Beautiful picutres! Lovely place to visit.

Hamsi said...

Beautiful snaps and happy to read yours travel experience.

Hamsamalini Chandrasekaran
http://indianyummykitchen.blogspot.com

Lena Jayadev said...

wen i `read it, i felt that i came with u... nice read up:)

Sunil Goswami said...

Hey, you have got an award :). Check it out - here

Suman Singh said...

Awesome pics and great photography...Looks like you had a great time!

My Kitchen Antics said...

hey girl..how have you been? look fwd 2 some kick ass recipes.... needless 2 say your travel pics are beautiful as well :)

Mrs.Mano Saminathan said...

Fantastic photogrphs!
Especially the lonely blue bird is so beautiful!!

Mehjabeen Arif said...

Wow.. scary pictures.. Art of work..Loved it :) new to ur space.. n happy to follow u.

do visit me when u get time
http://comeletseat.blogspot.com

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Satrupa
How are you? Here after a long time and I feel good that I haven't missed much at your site. Cant see most of the blogs these days , as Gopabandhu Dash said in Rail-a upar-e Chilika darshana.."RahiNa sangsara bishama janja-Le.." Ha ha
It is a great posting, enjoyed the writing and the great photography...very nice indeed.
Bhala thiba
Ushnish Bhai

? said...

Loved the travel diary and the snapshots in these two posts!

Domain name registration said...

Really beautiful place and i really like this. thanks for sharing about this place.

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