Red Rocks Park (April 28, 2013)

Written by ceddammit

The day after my downtown Denver excursion with my then NEW CAMERA, I switched from urban scenes to Colorado’s natural beauty. Specifically, I hiked the Trading Post Trail at Red Rocks Park. This park is located in the foothills west of Denver, next to the town of Morrison. The park is best known for its amphitheater, which is one of Denver’s major concert venues. We’ll see that later. The Trading Post Trail is a 1.5-mile loop that meanders through the giant red rocks south of the amphitheater. There are multiple access points, including the namesake Red Rocks Trading Post, which is where I chose to begin my counter-clockwise jaunt around the loop.

Looking south from Red Rocks Trading Post
A leftover from the Monsters of Rock tour?
An intact Tyrannosaurus Rex skull?
A manatee and an aardvark kissing?

At approximately the half way point, the trail crosses Red Rocks Park Road, providing a nice view up a little canyon. On one side of this canyon is a cliff that is quite popular with a variety of birds. This next set of pics is a great example of why I upgraded to the Good Camera…

I don’t recall clouds looking this good on my old camera.
The higher resolution of the Good Camera allowed me to zoom in after the fact, to see enough detail to identify this boid…
…I’m about 90% sure this is an American Kestrel.

Shortly after crossing the road, the trail goes ’round a bend and veers away from the giant rocks for awhile…

No rocks to photograph? Get a pic of a big dead tree!
Well OK, you can still see rocks. They’re just farther away.
Some serious substructure for a lightly used pedestrian bridge
Who’s scruffy-looking?
Check out those ears…this is definitely a mule deer.

After a short (by Colorado standards) climb, the trail is back amongst the rocks…

Petrified backpack?
The red rocks continue south through Roxborough State Park to Colorado Springs
Detail of a Red Rock
Extreme detail of a Red Rock
Cactus!
A cliff with Googly eyes?
Looking at Dinosaur Ridge, across the valley to the east of Red Rocks Park
Hey! That’s where I was yesterday!
Downtown Denver; white roof of Denver International Airport on the horizon
Looking out across Denver’s southwest suburbs
Foothills to the southeast of Red Rocks Park
Near: a big rock
Far: the sprawl of Denver

After completing the Trading Post Trail loop, I walked across the street to the world famous Red Rocks Amphitheater. Despite living in Colorado for over 20 years, I only ever went to one concert here. That was a Yes concert, in the mid-1990s. It was really windy for about the first half of the show, which interfered with the acoustics. But then the wind died, and the sound was amazing! Unlike most major concert venues, being outdoors and part of a city park means that the general public can freely wander in and out of the joint when there’s not a concert going on…so they do. Let’s start with a few shots of the amphitheater itself…

The stage at Red Rocks Amphitheater, open to the public when not in use for a concert
This walkway is not open to the public.
This walkway is not open to the public.
Structure at the south end of the stage
Structure at the north end of the stage…
…which nicely complements the natural rock formations.
Notice the railing at the back of the stage. I believe its purpose is to prevent musicians from accidentally getting too close to the back wall, lest they be eaten by it.

Having seen some pictures of the amphitheater, let’s finish with some views from the amphitheater…

That green mountain is Green Mountain.

So that, my friends, is Red Rocks. Tune in next week for a hike in Royal Gorge!

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