West Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)

The Amazing Balanced Rock

Photographed by Charles T. Harrell, July 1, 2011

1. The Amazing Balanced Rock Marker

Inscription. Around 300 million years ago, the Ancestral Rockies once stood here. Over time, the forces of wind and water eroded the magnificent peaks into swift streams full of sediments. These sediments were eventually pressed and cemented into solid rock. The new rocks took the form of:
• Sands full of iron oxide creating red sandstone rock
• muds forming softer, more delicate shales and
• a mixture of sand and pebbles called conglomerate.

Balanced Rock was exposed more than 60 million years ago when the existing Rocky Mountains rose. To make its current shape, the soft, bottom layer of shale eroded much faster than the harder sandstone and conglomerate above. Amazingly, the narrow pedestal supporting Balanced Rock has held the 700-ton weight for thousands of years.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Natural Features.

Location. 38° 51.896′ N, 104° 53.842′ W. Marker is in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in El Paso County. It is in West Colorado Springs. It is on Garden Drive, on the left when traveling north. Marker is located in Garden of the Gods Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Manitou Springs CO 80829, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Colorado’s Front Range and in Pikes Peak Region. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Comanchería.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Goerke & Son Photography (here, next to this marker); A Plentiful Harvest

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(here, next to this marker); One Seed Juniper (here, next to this marker); Garden of The Gods Trading Post (approx. ¼ mile away); Garden of the Gods Trading Post (approx. ¼ mile away); George Eber Duclo (approx. 0.9 miles away); An Early Adventurer in Manitou (approx. 0.9 miles away); Manitou and Pike's Peak Cog Railway (approx. 0.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Colorado Springs.

Also see . . . Balanced Rock - Garden of the Gods. See Wikipedia photo. (Submitted on August 15, 2011, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland.)

Photographed by Charles T. Harrell, July 1, 2011

2. The Amazing Balanced Rock Marker

The Amazing Balanced Rock image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Michael Kindig, March 30, 2008

3. The Amazing Balanced Rock

Photographed by Michael Kindig, March 30, 2008

4. The Amazing Balanced Rock

Photographed by Mike Stroud, May 29, 1994

5. The Amazing Balanced Rock

see tourist on the right side to show the size of the boulder

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 11, 2011, by Charles T. Harrell of Woodford, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,691 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 11, 2011, by Charles T. Harrell of Woodford, Virginia. 3, 4. submitted on January 27, 2012, by Michael Kindig of Elk Grove, California. 5. submitted on January 28, 2012, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.