Garden of the Gods is a city park, not a national or state park, and that changes everything about eloping there. There is no permit office, no fee and no reservation system for a small ceremony. The City of Colorado Springs publishes a short set of rules on its Weddings in Parks page, and the whole thing comes down to one sentence from that page: weddings at the Garden of the Gods are allowed provided they are small, brief ceremonies. This page lays out what the city says, what it prohibits, and how to plan around a park that gets millions of visitors a year.
The six free ceremony areas
The city designates six areas for weddings. There is no charge, all are first come, first served, and the city states that no reservations or permits are available for them. The capacities the city lists are:
- Chuckwagon Plaza: 40 people
- Sentinel Plaza: 25 people
- Three Graces Plaza: 25 people
- High Point: 20 people
- Scotsman Picnic Area: 20 people
- South Spring Canyon Area: 30 people
The city updated this list in 2026: the plaza beside the Chuckwagon pavilion is now listed as Chuckwagon Plaza (older guides call it Jaycee Plaza), and several capacities came down.
The Visitor and Nature Center publishes a ceremonies map, updated April 2026, that shows where each area sits. If its capacity figures ever differ from the city’s, treat the lower number as the practical limit and the city page as the rule. The map is the best tool for choosing a spot before you arrive, because the plazas differ a great deal: Chuckwagon Plaza and High Point face the big formations with Pikes Peak behind, Three Graces is intimate and shaded in the morning, and the two picnic areas are the only places a reception of any kind is allowed, as a picnic.
First come means exactly that. You cannot block off an area, you cannot cone off parking, and tourists may walk through your ceremony. Weekdays at sunrise are the only reliably quiet time from May through October.
What is not allowed
The city’s list is short and firm:
- No receptions in the park except a picnic at the Scotsman or South Spring Canyon picnic areas.
- No alcohol, anywhere in the park.
- No tables, tents, arches or trellises.
- No decorations.
- No releasing birds, butterflies or balloons, and no throwing rice or confetti.
- No blocking off areas, including parking.
- Stay on established trails and do not disturb vegetation.
Chairs are allowed only for elderly or disabled guests. That rule is the one couples most often miss. A row of rented chairs for twenty guests turns your free ceremony into something that needs a Special Event Permit.
When you need a permit
The city applies the same thresholds across its parks. A gathering of more than 50 people must rent a pavilion or apply for a Special Event Permit. So must any gathering of any size that wants tents, chairs, awnings, arches and similar equipment. Garden of the Gods has no pavilions to rent, which means the Special Event Permit is the only route for an equipped ceremony there.
The Special Event Permit application requires a signed application, an event narrative and timeline, a site plan, an emergency plan and a signed copy of the park rules. The city says it will not accept an application without all five. Amplified sound of any kind, including a single speaker for a processional, normally needs a separate Noise Hardship Permit, but the city states that because Garden of the Gods is a National Natural Landmark, Noise Hardship Permits are not granted for weddings there. Plan on unamplified vows.
In practice, almost no eloping couple goes this route. A ceremony of two to twenty people standing at a plaza, with a bouquet and a photographer, is what the free areas are for.
Photography rules
Personal photographs need no permit. The city draws the line at commercial use: if the photos will be used to advertise or promote a company, including on a business’s social media account, a Commercial Film Permit is required, and applications are accepted from twelve months to fourteen days before the shoot. Ask your photographer how they handle this; many Colorado Springs photographers hold an annual permit. Our Colorado Springs photographers work in the park weekly.
Red Rock Canyon and the other open spaces
Red Rock Canyon Open Space, just across Highway 24 from the Garden, is a favorite with photographers. The city has listed it, along with several other open spaces bought through the Trails, Open Space and Parks program, among properties where events including weddings are not allowed because of conservation easements. The Weddings in Parks page we loaded on October 12, 2026 had been rewritten without that list, so treat Red Rock Canyon as a portrait spot until the city’s Office of Special Events tells you otherwise in writing. Our guide to Colorado Springs ceremony sites beyond Garden of the Gods covers Pikes Peak, North Cheyenne Cañon and the Paint Mines.
Note that Cheyenne Mountain State Park is a Colorado Parks and Wildlife property with its own special activity agreement process.
Planning the morning
Arrive early. Park roads open early in the morning (current hours are posted at gardenofgods.com). A ceremony at High Point shortly after sunrise in July has the formations glowing and nearly empty lots. By 9 a.m. the main lot is full.
Pick a backup area. Because nothing is reserved, you may arrive to find another couple at Chuckwagon Plaza. Choose a second plaza and agree in advance that you will simply walk to it.
Keep it brief. The city asks for brief ceremonies and means it. Twenty minutes is plenty for vows, a ring exchange and signing the license. Portraits can run as long as you like on the trails afterward.
Weather. Summer afternoons bring lightning off Pikes Peak by 1 or 2 p.m. Mornings are the safe window from June through September. Winter is dry and often warm at midday, with the lowest crowds of the year.
Nearby venues for a bigger day
If you want fifty guests seated, a dinner and a dance floor, the Garden becomes your portrait location and a venue hosts the rest. Manitou Springs, Old Colorado City and the ranches north of the park are a short drive. Browse the venues category and our Colorado Springs planning guide.
Your marriage license
El Paso County issues marriage licenses at its main office on Garden of the Gods Road with no appointment needed (our Colorado Springs marriage license guide has the hours); complete the online application first, bring photo identification, and pay $30 by cash or card. Colorado requires no witnesses and no officiant, so the two of you can sign the certificate yourselves at the plaza. Everything else is on our Colorado marriage license page and the self solemnization page.
Who to call
The Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services department handles Garden of the Gods questions. The rules above come from the city’s Weddings in Parks page, linked in the sources below; if the city changes them, that page is the one that governs.
