Among the indigenous peoples of the region, the supreme Manitou is referenced as a supernatural being that controls nature, an omnipresent spirit that manifests everywhere, and a deity that possesses supernatural power.

Ancient Indian legend tells the story of a great flood which covered all but the top of Manitou's Mountain, known today as Pikes Peak. When the waters subsided, the Great Spirit turned the floating carcasses of the drowned animals into sandstone and rolled them down into a garden valley below, where they 'remained as mute evidence of the Great Flood.'

Formed over 300 million years of nature’s evolution, Garden of the Gods is truly an angelic place and considered sacred ground by the Apache, Kiowa, Pawnee, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Shoshone and Ute people. It is believed that the red rocks had spiritual properties, and their oral tradition describes how man was created in the Garden of the Gods.

Towering over 300 feet of crimson ancestral red, pink and white sandstone, these monoliths and spires spring from the valley floor as if being pulled to the heavens by the supreme creator's hand.

The energy of this place is undeniable. The moment you step foot beneath their watchful presence, everything changes – your breath, your heartbeat, your sense of being human; you become keenly aware of our frailties, our mortality, as an overwhelming desire for greater spiritual intimacy rushes through your soul.

And on that cold winter morning in 'The Valley of the Miracle,' one couldn’t help but feel the presence of the Great Spirit, for it had delicately dusted the valley with a welcoming layer of pristine snow, offering an angelic presentation of 'Garden of the Gods,' graced with the omnipresent, the 'Spirit of Manitou'.

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