The story of the rocks seen in the Garden of the Gods Park begins over 300 million years ago when a different set of Rocky Mountains existed here. This first set of Rocky Mountains is known as the Ancestral Rockies, which were composed of the same granite (igneous rock type) that Pikes Peak is made of today. Pikes Peak granite has been dated at 1.6 billion years in age using geologic radiometric dating methods. This means that the granite that composed previous mountains, and our current Pikes Peak, formed during the Pre-Cambrian age as a large batholith, known as the Pikes Peak Massive. This batholith of granite gets pushed up (uplifted) during mountain building episodes, called orogenies, which are caused by forces of plate tectonics. There have been 3 mountain building periods in the Pikes Peak area:
1. The Ancestral Rockies occurred approximately 300 million years ago. The erosion of these first Rocky Mountains formed the sedimentary Fountain Formation conglomerate layers, and the Lyons sandstones.
2. The Laramide Orogeny occurred approximately 70 – 80 million years ago. This phenomenon was caused by plate tectonics. The Pacific Plate dove under the North American Plate, causing the continent to buckle, and uplifted the Front Range, giving us a second set of Rocky Mountains. These also eroded away.
3. Pikes Peak was uplifted during a third mountain building time approximately 10 million years ago. It is currently being eroded by many factors, particularly ice. The bowls on Pikes Peak were scoured out by glaciers during the last Ice Age that ended 10,000 years ago.
The Garden of the Gods Park is composed entirely of sedimentary rock layers, and is unique because the rock layers have been tilted upright and exposed in dramatic fashion. Each ridge and valley represents a different period of environment from the past 65 to 300 million years of Earth’s history. Erosion has sculpted these rocks into fascinating shapes. The main rock formations are described here:
The Fountain Formation (300-280 million years old): Nearly a mile thick, this sedimentary rock is composed of sand, gravel, and mud that washed down from the Ancestral Rockies. Eventually these mountains were eroded flat, leaving thick deposits of stream sediments. These sediments eventually compacted and cemented into the Fountain Formation conglomerate, found on the west side of the Park. Balanced Rock, Siamese Twins, and Three Graces are some of the rock formations in the Park comprised of Fountain Formation conglomerate.
Red and White Lyons Formations (280-245 million years ago): After the stream deposited Fountain formation sediments built up, the local climate and landscape changed to that of a desert, and sand dunes covered the area. The fine-grained, well sorted sands of the Red and White Lyons Formations are Aeolian (wind deposited). The red color is from iron, which helps cement the grains together. The Lyons formations are the tallest hogbacks in the Park, and our most famous feature, the Kissing Camels, is part of the Red Lyons sandstone.
Lykins and Morrison Formations, Dakota Sandstone, Benton Group, Niobrara Limestone, and Pierre Shale (144 – 66 million years ago): The Garden of the Gods Park area underwent primarily erosion episodes during the first part of the Mesozoic era from 245- to about 200 million years ago. Thereafter, the area was inundated with several sea invasions. Sedimentary deposits show evidence of swamps, lagoons, sand bars, and sea mud. The rock formations listed above represent this time in Earth’s history, and are located on the east side of the Park. Dinosaurs also roamed the area, and the skull of a unique dinosaur named Theiophytalia Kerri was found in the Garden of the Gods in 1886 by a visiting Colorado College Professor, James Kerr. The dinosaur fossil has been dated from the Cretaceous Period, 135- 70 million years ago, and is an herbivore found nowhere else in the world.
All the various sedimentary layers were gradually compacted and cemented into rock. During the Laramide Orogeny (about 65 million years ago), these layers were broken and tilted upright. Erosion has exposed the ridges and carved out the valleys to what we see today.
Please be mindful to remain on all paved and hard surfaces. Do not go off-roading or damage the natural habitat in any way. This is a learning opportunity, that many will want to join in on, so CITO and leave no trace when visiting.
For additional information try these books:
Roadside Guide to Colorado, John Chronic
Prairie, Peak and Plateau, John and Halka Chronic
Geology of the Pikes Peak Region, Colorado, Richard Hubbard and Danny Wyatt
Introduction to the Geology of the Colorado Springs Region, Jeffrey B. Noblett
Garden of God’s, Paul Nesbit
Prehistoric Journey: A History of Life on Earth, Johnson& Stucky
To get credit for the find, please answer the following questions:
1. What type of rock is the formation made of?
2. Based upon your estimates, how tall, how wide, and what is the color of the formation?
3. As you touch the rock, describe the texture and estimate the particle sizes that make up this formation.
4. Estimate how old is the formation and what natural effects may have helped create this formation.
5. What type, of the three main rocks types, is this formation?
6. Optional: Please post a picture of yourself/team at the location with GPS.
Answers with "I dont know; Cant find it; etc..," or failing to answer the first four questions will cause your log to be deleted.
Each person who logs a find must submit their own answers, no group emails.
Please be mindful to remain on all paved and hard surfaces.
Do not go off-roading or damage the natural habitat in any way.
This is a learning opportunity, that many will want to join in on, so CITO and leave no trace when visiting.
I do not reply to correct answers. So please log your find once you have completed the cache and submitted your answers. If there are any concerns, I will contact you.
ALL LOGS THAT DO NOT HAVE ANSWERS SUBMITTED WITH 72 HOURS WILL BE DELETED.
