Garden of the Gods Winter Photography Guide

It took seven separate attempts to finally get this specific winter shot of Garden of the Gods. For this frame, I had a very clear picture in my head: the red rock formations covered in heavy, fresh snow, clear views all the way to the mountains, and that bright, glowing morning light.

But during my first six trips, the weather completely shut me down. The snow would melt before the sun came up, heavy clouds would block the horizon, the light would simply die, or the winter storm fizzled out and left me without enough snow to cover the landscape.

Then came the storm that changed everything.

When a big winter storm finally hit the area, I woke up at 1:00 AM to check my weather app. It looked like the clouds might break right at dawn—a quick window that every photographer hopes for. I packed up my camera gear and drove through the night to Colorado Springs, only to find the park roads completely closed because of drifting snow. There was no way to drive in.

Giving up and driving home wasn’t an option. I parked in the overflow parking lot, put on extra clothing to start hiking into the park, tightened my boots, and set off. Because I hadn’t planned on parking so far away, I had to really hustle, turning what should have been an easy walk into a tough 30 to 40-minute hike through a mile to two miles of knee-high snow.

Walking through deep snow in freezing weather with a tripod and a heavy backpack makes you question your sanity. When you are breaking trail and racing the sunrise like that, every single step feels twice as hard, and I kept wondering if I was just walking straight into another disappointment.

When I finally got to my spot, the sky was a heavy, dark gray. The wind was freezing, the ground was buried, and honestly, it felt like I was too late.

And then—boom.

The clouds opened up for just five minutes. A bright, glowing blast of sunrise light hit the snow-covered red rocks, lighting up the snowy vegetation in the front and the tall rocks in the back exactly how I wanted. The rocks completely glowed against the fresh snow, creating a beautiful, untouched winter scene.

The Result: You can see the payoff of not giving up right here. The shot perfectly balances the bright white snow against the dark red rocks, surrounded by snow-covered trees.

That morning proved that persistence is everything. To get these phenomenal photographs, it takes going back to a place 6 to 11 different times to get that perfect shot. When you’re out chasing these locations, remember that the forecast is just a guess—sometimes you just have to put on your boots and hike through the snow to see what happens.