Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University
of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First-time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use
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 | Entrance to the park. Pikes Peak is in the background. |
 | A visitor center has exhibits on the geology and natural history. |
 | View west from the visitor center. |
 | Looking north along the hogbacks. The Rocky Mountain front is a large monoclinal fold that finally faulted. The fault is not between the contact between the sandstones and Precambrian rocks, but within the sandstones. West of the fault the unconformity between the sandstones and underlying Precambrian crystalline rocks can be seen in a number of places. One nearby locality is on U.S. 24 at Manitou Springs a few kilometers to the west. |
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 | View south along the Rocky Mountain front from the south end of the park |
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 | Thin blades of upturned sandstone are the most famous features of Garden of the Gods. |
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 | Balanced
Rock is a famous attraction at Garden of the Gods. It's not quite as
precarious as it looks because it's actually attached by a fairly long rib
of rock.
Note that the layers here are gently dipping. There are no hogbacks in this area, which is west of the fault. These rocks are resting unconformably on Precambrian crystalline rocks, and the contact is exposed a few kilometers to the west at Manitou Springs. |
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 | The rock looks a lot more precarious when seen end-on, the usual vantage point for pictures. |
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 | Colorado Springs. |
 | Rocky Mountain foothills from the south end of the park. |
 | Nearby Pike's Peak, easily the most user-friendly 14,000 foot peak in the U.S., adds to the scenic appeal of Garden of the Gods. |
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 | Outcrops along U.S. 24 in Colorado Springs. |
 | Note the low angle normal fault. |
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Created 14 July 2003, Last Update 27 October 2005
Not an official UW Green Bay site