Garden of the Gods is a 1,341.3 acre public park located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. 862 acres of the park was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971. The area now known as Garden of the Gods was first called Red Rock Corral by the Europeans. In August 1859, two surveyors who helped to found Colorado City explored the site. …Garden of the Gods is a 1,341.3 acre public park located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. 862 acres of the park was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971. The area now known as Garden of the Gods was first called Red Rock Corral by the Europeans. In August 1859, two surveyors who helped to found Colorado City explored the site. One of the surveyors, Melancthon S. Beach, suggested it would be a "capital place for a beer garden". His companion, the young Rufus Cable, awestruck by the impressive rock formations, exclaimed, "Beer garden! Why, it is a fit place for the Gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods." However, an 1893 issue of the Colorado Transcript reported that Helen Hunt Jackson assigned the name "the Garden of the Gods"...