Walk a park deeded to stay free to the public forever
Free by deed since 1909
Four hundred and eighty acres of tilted red sandstone fins on the edge of the city, given to the public in 1909 on condition that it never charge admission.
Why it's unique
In 1909 the children of Charles Elliott Perkins gave 480 acres of vertical red sandstone to the city on written conditions: that it be known forever as the Garden of the Gods, that it remain free to the public forever, that no intoxicating liquor be sold there, and that nothing be built on it except what is needed to maintain it as a park.
The rock formations are a National Natural Landmark and geology like this exists elsewhere. The deed is the thing that does not. A landmark of this scale held free in perpetuity by an enforceable condition rather than by a policy that could be revised is genuinely unusual, and it is why parking, entry and the visitor centre all still cost nothing.
Before you go
Free means completely free: parking, entry and the visitor centre. This catches people out, because nothing else of comparable scale in the region works that way and visitors keep looking for the ticket office.
Go at first light or in the last hour of the day. The central garden is genuinely crowded from mid-morning, and the red rock only does its thing at low sun. Kissing Camels, Balanced Rock and Steamboat Rock are the named formations worth finding. Perkins died in 1907 before he could arrange the gift; his four daughters and two sons carried out his intention.