In 1859, some folks surveying this area remarked that it would make for a great beer garden. Another man objected, saying it was better fit for the gods -- and a name was born. (iStockphoto/Thinkstock)

In August, I’m going to ride a horse through this place. Red sandstone rock formations, reaching 300 feet for the azure sky. One-thousand-year-old twisted juniper trees. And — evidently — ants that gorge themselves on honey (says Frommer’s).

The Colorado park is 1,300 acres, saved for future generations by a man named Charles Elliot Perkins, president of the Burlington Railroad, who bought up the land in the late 1800s for a summer home and then just let it be. When he died in 1907, the pristine property was turned over to the city of Colorado Springs to serve as a park … fit for gods.

Today, visitors hike its trails and rock climbers are welcome to climb its sandstone, as long as they use proper gear. (Yesterday, three climbers had to be rescued from the rocks after they climbed 300 feet up without equipment and then were unable to get back down!) And there’s even a 10-mile race that winds through the rock formations every June, if jogging is your thing.

A couple of the rock formations need to get a room:

Lip-locked rocks (iStockphoto/Thinkstock)

Giraffe trying to kiss another giraffe? (iStockphoto/Thinkstock)

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