The last time I hiked Red Rocks Trail, I started at the Matthews/Winters Park trailhead. But on Monday I wanted to focus more on Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the world’s coolest natural outdoor amphitheatre – except for maybe that floating movie theatre in Thailand. So this time I started from the trailhead at the Lower North Parking Lot of Red Rocks Park. I took Red Rocks Trail to the second junction with the Morrison Slide Trail, making a three-mile lollipop loop. If you do the same basic hike from the Matthews/Winters side, it’s about four miles.

Afterward, I rewarded myself with a short walk up to the amphitheatre. Even when no band is playing, the astonishing gathering of giant, red sandstone slabs rocks! They inspired me to buy tickets to take my teenage sister to see Gotye at Red Rocks next week. I only know a couple of Gotye’s songs, but I like them…and I can’t imagine a bad night at Red Rocks.

If you live in Denver, you probably know how to find Red Rocks. If not, you can go a few ways, but I prefer this one: Hampden/285 South, turn onto CO-470 toward I-70, take the Morrison Road exit, turn left, and follow the road through town as it changes names. When it becomes Highway 93, follow the signs to Red Rocks. You’ll need to wind through the park to hit the lower north lot. To start from the more hikerly trailhead, take 6th Avenue to I-70 to Highway 93 south, to Matthews/Winters Park. Here’s my promo for the amphitheatre trailhead: I saw a couple of deer there, which you’ll see in this video:

Hiking Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre – Red Rocks & Morrison Slide Loop from Cara Lopez Lee on Vimeo.