I decided to stop by Garden of the Gods on my road trip back from Crested Butte, CO. I took a detour to visit Pikes Peak summit which was quite an experience which I recommend to anyone who is going through the area. The pictures don’t quite do it justice.

I wanted to shoot Garden of the Gods at sunrise to try to capture some interesting light on the rock formations. I didn’t know much about Garden of the Gods but did a little research on locations to park to access some of the key areas. I settled on the P2 lot on the north side as it was a short walk to the gateway rocks. Fast forward to 4:30am the morning of my shoot and Im greeted by a ranger at the park entrance informing me that the inner loop drive into the park was closed to cars before 8am that morning. I was confused because I didn’t see anything at all on the public site for the park indicating this. Turns out 4 times a year they do this early closure to cars and only allow walk/bike into the park before 8am. I just happened to pick 1 of 4 days a year they do this, July 29th. (for anyone visiting, be sure to check the event calendar as this is where the closure was indicated. its under Special Events so you wouldn’t find it unless you were looking for it. It’s called Early Bird Bike and Hike). https://gardenofgods.com/

So, I had to come up with a new game plan due to the car closure. The ranger suggested I go to the main lot and park there and walk in. So I rerouted found the lot in the dark which wasn’t easy because I didn’t really have a map of the park. The visitor center didn’t open until 9am. So I found the lot at about 5 am, parked and in the dark found the path to walk into the park which was kinda long at least when I was originally planning for a 5 min walk, this was more like 25 min uphill in the dark, with my pack and tripod. So I finally made it to my originally planned location with about 20 min to spare to get a composition and set up. I assumed I’d need wide angle lens which turned out to be true (used my 14-35, but it was still a little difficult to compose up close without including man made paths etc.

The silver lining of the park closure to cars was there were very few people in the park, even after sunrise. I was able to compose a few shots with zero people in them so it was kind of a happy accident. After shooting a few shots with optimal light right before sunrise and just after, I moved on to more intimate close up shots. This was actually kind of fun, moving around the rock formations, following the paths and looking for unique compositions. It wasn’t easy as these rocks have been shot a million times. I do think I picked out a few interesting shots but still the light on the South Gateway rock is my favorite. One suggestion for those interested in visiting, check out the upper loop trail. While I only had time to explore the main central garden trails area, the short upper loop trail that is sort of near the south side of that main central area was a hidden gem. You get some nice elevated views of Three Graces Rock and Cathedral Spires (pictures 6-8 below), as well as some nice interesting cactus along the path.

I hope to return on another trip and take some more time to explore more areas of the park. I had to skip the whole southern part of the park because I was limited on time but I think its definitely worth exploring if you have time.