Locals, tourists flock to Garden of the Gods on Black Friday

Coloradans are getting a little greener, with many choosing to spend Black Friday surrounded by nature instead of shopping aisles.

In Colorado Springs, people chose to celebrate the outdoors at Garden of the Gods.

"We are from the finger lakes area of upstate New York," said Stephanie Owens.

She and her sister are visiting her great uncle, Fred Leich.

"They're only here for two days and I wanted to show them the Garden of the Gods, it's one of the most beautiful places I know," he said.

They chose to get fresh air rather than Black Friday shopping.

"I think for me a big thing is how amazing this is and we are so fortunate to be able to have this in our country and be able to see these beautiful things," Owens said.

"Sometimes we take these things that we have for granted and we don't realize the beauty that's out there especially nowadays looking at out phones and gotta get that deal and I think when we pause and take a step back that's where you see the real beauty," Ashley Owens said.

Although Garden of the Gods is a city park and is always free, getting outside is quickly become a tradition. Colorado State Parks have waived state park entrance fees on Black Friday since 2015 as part of their #FreshAirFriday partnership with Great Outdoors Colorado.

"I always would take nature over shopping any day. I feel like you get more out of it instead of buying stuff, you can be one with where we're at I guess," said Allison Armstrong, from California.

"We're just actually enjoying the outside And the outdoors and just looking around at the sights and not spending all of our time in the malls," said Ericka Young, visiting from Virginia.

Check out CPW's Park Finder at this link to locate a park near you, or find more Fresh Air Friday events, click/tap this link.