Park
Garden of the Gods
The City of Colorado Springs' red-rock park on Manitou's doorstep, free and open 5 am to 10 pm in summer and 5 am to 9 pm in winter, with a Visitor & Nature Center across 30th Street.
Garden of the Gods is the City of Colorado Springs’ park, not Manitou’s and not a state or national park: it was deeded to the city in 1909 on condition that it stay forever free to the public, and the Visitor & Nature Center is run as a partnership between the city’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services department, the center and the Garden of the Gods Foundation. The park is open 5 am to 10 pm from May 1 to October 31 and 5 am to 9 pm from November 1 to April 30. The Visitor & Nature Center at 1805 N. 30th Street is open 9 am to 5 pm in winter and 9 am to 6 pm from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, and closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Both the park and the center are free.
The center’s lot has fewer than 200 spaces and fills in summer and on holidays; an overflow lot across the street off Gateway Road, reached by trail and a pedestrian tunnel, takes oversized vehicles on its outer perimeter, and a shuttle runs between the overflow lot, the center, Rock Ledge Ranch and the park. The center’s October 2026 calendar lists a daily 10:30 am guided nature walk from the flagpole and programs such as Fossil Day and Trunk or Treat.
Hours, admission and the partnership are from the center’s home page; parking from its directions page, both read 10 October 2026.
At a glance red rocks · hiking · visitor center · free
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Checked October 10, 2026 against gardenofgods.com. Hours and phone numbers change fastest, so the business’s own page is the record. Report a correction · Know something opening or closing? Tell us
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