Red Rocks Park is a mountain park in Jefferson County, Colorado, owned and maintained by the city of

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

as part of the Denver Mountain Parks system. The park is known for its very large red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

outcrops. Many of these rock formations within the park have names, from the mushroom-shaped Seat of Pluto to the inclined Cave of the Seven Ladders. The most visited rocks, around

Red Rocks Amphitheatre Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also known colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheater in the Western United States, western United States near Morrison, Colorado, approximately southwest of Denver. It is owned and operated by the c ...

, are Creation Rock to the north, Ship Rock to the south, and Stage Rock to the east. The red sandstone found throughout Red Rocks Park is geologically identified as belonging to the Fountain Formation. Other

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

examples of Fountain Formation geology include nearby Roxborough State Park, Garden of the Gods near

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

, and the Flatirons near

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

. The rocks were formed about 290-296 million years ago when the Ancestral Rocky Mountains were eroded during the Pennsylvanian epoch. Later, uplift during the Laramide orogeny tilted the rocks to the angle at which they sit today. An Army expedition led by Stephen Long discovered present-day Red Rocks in 1820. The park was in times far past a favored campsite of the Ute tribe for it provided natural cover from the elements. Its earliest known name was the Garden of the Angels, reputedly given to it on July 4, 1870, by Martin Van Buren Luther, a pioneer Colorado judge. In 1872, Marion Burts became the first recorded owner of Red Rocks. He sold it to Leonard H. Eicholtz, a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

who helped build the

Union Pacific Railway The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

and who developed the property into a park in 1878. Eicholtz added roads, trails, picnic grounds, steps, and ladders so visitors could explore the park. In 1906, Eicholtz sold Red Rocks to famed editor

John Brisben Walker John Brisben Walker (September 10, 1847 – July 7, 1931) was a magazine publisher and automobile entrepreneur in the United States. In his later years, he was a resident of Jefferson County, Colorado. Biography Walker was born on September ...

which he purchased with proceeds from his sale of '' Cosmopolitan'' magazine; Walker organized concerts on a temporary platform at the Garden of the Titans. Known however by the folk name of ''Red Rocks'' since the area was settled, it was formally given that name when Denver acquired it in 1928 from Walker. Within the park boundaries is the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, a venue used since 1941. The Amphitheater was designed by Burnam Hoyt within the area between two massive slabs of Red stone (Ship Rock and Creation Rock).

Park construction

Denver Mayor Ben Stapleton resisted developing the already beautiful Red Rocks but the city used Depression-era

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

funding and resources to build out the park, as part of the development of the Denver Mountain Parks system. City planner George Cranmer oversaw the development, securing federal funding and establishment of a

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

(CCC) camp at Mount Morrison to facilitate the construction of the park's features. CCC crews were responsible for building out the early roads and the amphitheater, as well as a Pueblo-style concession stand. The park along with surviving CCC camp (which is one of the best preserved of such camps) were designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 2015.

Trails

There are several short, pedestrian-only trails in the park: Funicular Trail, Geologic Overlook Trail, Mt. Vernon Creek Trail, Red Rocks Trail, and the Trading Post Trail. Other multi-use trails are open to mountain bikes, horses, and leashed dogs.

Gallery

P1010377redrocksfall.jpg, Layered feature in Red Rocks Park, Colorado. Features in the Red Rocks region were caused by the uplift of mountains. John Denver "Spirit" statue, Red Rocks Park, Morrison, Colorado.jpg, John Denver "Spirit" statue Close up of red rock in the Red Rocks Park, Morrison, Colorado.jpg, Close-up of red rock Sunburst on trail in the Red Rocks Park, Morrison, Colorado.jpg, Sunburst on trail Bridge in Red Rocks Park, Morrison, Colorado.jpg, Bridge in Red Rocks Park Trading Post Trail sign, Red Rocks Park, Morrison, Colorado.jpg, Trading Post Trail sign Red Rocks Park flower.jpg, Red Rocks Park Red Rocks Park in Denver.jpg, Red Rocks Park in Denver

References

* Klun, Kerry. "Historic Homes of Denver: Entertainment Series-Red Rocks." (n.d.): n. pag. 18 Feb. 2011. Web.

External links

Red Rocks Park and AmphitheatreDenver Mountain Parks - Red Rocks
at Denvergov.org
Historic Red Rocks
{{Authority control Landforms of Jefferson County, Colorado Protected areas of Jefferson County, Colorado Denver Mountain Parks Fountain Formation Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado National Historic Landmarks in Colorado 1928 establishments in Colorado National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, Colorado Protected areas established in 1928

Park construction

Trails

Gallery

See also

References

External links