Millions of years ago the earth in the Red Rock area, burped, belched, retched, doubled over and punched up, pushed out and just generally did all kinds of things none of us would think rock could do.  In fact the explanation for this wild-ass movement is so convoluted even I, a very curious person, went cross-eyed. Understand it, don’t understand it, the result is spectacular!  

Essentially red stone, laid down 300 million years ago, that should be still sitting under multiple layers of later rock, now reach for the sky in picturesque and stunning ways.  The man-made amphitheater was built between two arching rocks that, quite by accident, were not only extremely wow!, but also created a natural sound stage with wonderful acoustics.  Long before the amphitheater was built, people made the treck on mules and horses to listen to musicians who stood between the rocks precisely because of the acoustics.  

Building the amphitheater was a WPA project.  While, we average, non-engineering people cannot fathom the amount of work and engineering it took to clear out the area and lay down steps while maintaining the integrity of the rock arches, we can certainly admire their handiwork.  The whole thing is indeed a magnificent piece of work.

Over the years some improvements have been made, modernizing the electricity, equipment, and stage, but the basic bones are still there.  Red Rock has hosted hundreds of shows every year.  It’s very popular as a summer concert site as it should be.  I would go all the time if we lived in Denver.  

We were not lucky enough to get tickets to a show.  We went on an early morning jaunt to catch the cool air before it turned hot.  We weren’t the first people there.  The early birds arrive even earlier to either do Sunrise Yoga or simply run up and down the amphitheater steps.  There are 194 of them.  I admire that sweaty feat.  

We walked around, visited the museum, sat on the steps for a bit watching all the action, took WAY too many photos, oohed and aaahed, then set off in search of the hiking trails that are part of the entire site.  We only took a few and only a short way, as the temperature was now rising to 100 degrees which is so very uncomfortable.   The heat forced us to do Drive-By-Tourism.   Stay in the cool, cool car and wave at the hiking trails.  We drove on along a scenic byway, following a little river to eat lunch at Evergreen, a teeny tiny town completely dependent on tourism dollars.  We gave them a few of ours.  Evergreen is a story for another day.  

If you are in Denver, make Red Rocks one of your priorities.  It’s like the Eiffel Tower.  It is completely unique and you won’t find its match again.  

Please excuse the over-abundance of photos.  We couldn’t help ourselves.