In the Garden

Designated a US natural landmark in 1971, the nearly 1,400-acre park is famous for its sedimentary rock formations—some towering 300 feet (~90 m)—with names such as Kissing Camels, Steamboat Rock, and Sleeping Giant.

The red rock formations are spectacular examples of the catastrophic forces at work during the global flood. First, the floodwaters stripped at least a mile of rock layers off the bedrock granite of what became the North American continent. Then the floodwaters covered the exposed granite in layers of sediment. In Garden of the Gods, we see the uplifted edge of those sedimentary rock layers that blanket the interior of North America. The erosion surface between the bedrock granite and first layer of sediment testifies to the speed of the catastrophic event.

One of the surveyors who discovered these upturned formations in 1859 exclaimed, “It is a fit place for the gods to assemble. We will call it the ‘Garden of the Gods.’” But the grandeur of the rocky garden reveals the righteousness of the one true God who once judged the world with a global flood, changing earth’s landscapes forever.

This article is from Answers magazine, October–December, 2023, p. 22–23.