Garden of the Gods

The Garden of the Gods Park is a Natural Historic Landmark managed by the City of Colorado Springs Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services. One of the most popular destinations in the Western United States, with an estimated 5 million local, national, and international visitors each year, the Garden of the Gods stretches the traditional definition of a city park. Given the park's relatively small size (1,300 acres), the visitation density far surpasses any similar site in the region.

Decades of high use have taken a heavy toll on the park, leaving the natural integrity of the Garden of the Gods at serious risk. Major threats include soil erosion, loss of native plant communities, invasive plants, wildlife disturbances, and the poor condition of the park's trail system. In 2000, RMFI completed the Garden of the Gods Restoration Report that evaluated the ecological health of the park, presented a list of recommendations to address the major threats to the park, and determined the cost for implementing the report's recommendations. In 2018, RMFI completed an updated condition assessment of the trails in the Park. That document will guide the organization's stewardship objectives over the coming years.