Five and a half million people visited Garden of the Gods in 2025. You probably walked it on a Tuesday before the buses arrived.
That gap — between the tourist count and the resident routine — is the thing worth understanding right now, because the city's 2026 investment in the park is designed almost entirely for the second kind of visitor. Not the one who drives in from Denver for the afternoon, photographs Balanced Rock, and leaves. The improvements going in this year serve the person who comes back three times a week and knows which lot to skip by March. That person lives in Kissing Camels.
The 2026 Infrastructure Story Nobody Is Writing About
The Garden of the Gods Foundation completed its Visitor & Nature Center restroom and exhibit expansion just before the 2025 summer season — tripling restroom capacity and improving exhibit access, funded entirely through private grants. That was phase one. The 2026 list goes deeper.
The Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services department is installing new wayfinding kiosks and welcome monuments throughout the trail system in 2026, with Garden of the Gods Park specifically named in the installation plan. The kiosk art and map design are being finalized now, with installations beginning in early to mid-2026. Wayfinding upgrades serve the person who already knows the main loop but wants to connect to something less obvious. Tourists don't read trailhead kiosks — they follow the car in front of them.
The Starsmore Visitor Center is getting a full renovation this year: relocated and expanded accessible parking, new ADA-accessible walkways to all building entrances, a new outdoor plaza designed for events, renovated restrooms, and a restored native plant garden with interpretive signage. Starsmore sits at the park's south end — the entrance most residents know and most tourists miss. A new plaza designed for "visitors and events" means summer programming, not just parking.
One earlier piece is already in place: the accessible trail through Central Garden, completed by June 2025, connects to a newly renovated accessible parking lot. This is the trail that added options for anyone who had previously found the terrain limiting — including people walking with dogs, strollers, or less sure footing on trail edges.
Taken together, these are not tourist amenities. They are the infrastructure of a park that expects its most frequent users to show up on foot from the neighborhood to the east.
How to Use the Trails Like Someone Who Lives Here
The park holds 15 miles of maintained trails, and the Visitor & Nature Center counts 21 miles including connecting routes. Most visitors never leave the 1.5-mile paved Perkins Central Garden Trail. That is exactly the trail to skip on a weekend between 9 and 11 a.m.
The Chambers/Bretag/Palmer Trail nearly circles the entire park in 3 miles at moderate difficulty, gaining 250 feet. The South Garden parking lot opens roughly 5 miles of trail suitable for mountain biking, hiking, or horseback riding. One-way roads through the park have paved bike lanes in both directions.
Amp'd Adventures runs guided electric bike tours inside the park and rents e-bikes and standard mountain bikes — useful when visiting family wants the experience without the elevation. Academy Riding Stables offers one- and two-hour guided horseback rides fitted for beginners and experienced riders. Rock climbing is permitted on established routes with a free annual permit from the city's website; the rules require parties of two or more and ban staining chalks. Wet or icy rock closes the climbing routes — something to check before you drive to the south lot.
Park hours matter. Winter hours run 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. through April 30; summer hours extend to 10 p.m. starting May 1. The city recommends arriving early or late in the day to avoid crowds — advice that applies starting in April. For visitors coming from out of town, the shuttle fleet operates a four-stop loop connecting Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site, the Visitor & Nature Center, and the Central Garden zone, with departures approximately every 15 minutes.
Rock Ledge Ranch, adjacent to the park's west edge, runs living history demonstrations and seasonal events — the kind of thing that works well for out-of-town guests who have already done the trail loop and want a second stop.
Where to Eat After
The dining situation immediately adjacent to the neighborhood has consolidated and improved over the past 18 months in ways worth knowing.
Marigold Café & Bakery at 4605 Centennial Blvd remains the closest serious restaurant to the park — a French-inspired menu built around housemade pastries, French onion soup, flat iron steak, and a patio with Pikes Peak views. The owners closed their quick-serve Marigold & Go outpost in February 2025 to concentrate resources on their two full-service locations. That consolidation shows: the flagship is where the effort is going. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; closed Sunday and Monday.
For a different register, Grandview at the Garden of the Gods Resort offers floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the red rock formations, a full-service bar, and a menu led by Master Chef Nathan Gresham. OpenTable's Diners' Choice award in both 2023 and 2024, plus a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in both years. It is the obvious answer when someone visiting from out of town asks where to eat with a view. Reservations make sense.
The Kissing Camels Grille & Bar at the resort is open to the public — casual, with golf course views, craft beer and cocktails, and a menu that includes theme nights throughout the week. Call ahead: 719-329-6901.
Old Colorado City, less than 10 minutes west, was voted Best Neighborhood in Colorado Springs and runs a live events calendar that includes weekly trivia, speed dating events, open mics, and workshop nights through the spring. Jake & Telly's Greek Taverna at 2616 W. Colorado Ave. is the neighborhood anchor for Greek food. Ristorante Di Sopra, sister restaurant to Paravicini's Italian Bistro, operates from a historic Old Colorado City building with a rooftop patio available for seasonal dining. La Baguette French Bistro rounds out the westside options with a European breakfast and lunch menu. All three are inside a short drive of the neighborhood.
The point is not that Garden of the Gods has always been Kissing Camels' most valuable asset. The point is that 2026 is the year the city is actively making it better for the person who lives here — not the person who visits once. New kiosks, a renovated south-end visitor center, a completed accessible trail, and a summer events plaza are improvements that compound in value with every visit. The tourist sees them once. You see them every week.
When you're ready to think about what that means for your property, Precision Spaces can build a data-backed plan around it. Contact Rob for a precision market plan.
