Side Trip: Red Rocks Amphitheater

The 193 steps that make up Red Rocks amphitheater conjure a unique neighborhood of people. As I look down from the top steps of the theater, I can see group exercise classes using the steps as workout equipment, families having picnics, people meditating, countless photoshoots, and one highly muscular man, clothed only in tight short shorts, doing what I would presume to be some sort of crossfit cardio-intensive workout of doing push-ups and rolling down each of the 193 steps and loudly grunting. My grandmother was particularly humored by his presence. Despite our different reasons for being in an amphitheater with a vacant stage, the community of people that the steps house all had at least a partial common purpose: to see one of the best views that the Denver area has to offer.

View From the Top Steps of Red Rocks

These views did not simply form overnight. Red Rocks is a geological phenomenon linking the Great Plains with the Rocky Mountains. What is now the only perfect natural amphitheater in the world, took around 300 million years of wind and wave erosion to sculpt (Our Story: Geology). The vibrant terra-cotta red comes from the release of iron and Lyons sandstone deposited throughout the area by the rivers that once flowed through it. And on top of the geological happenstance that created this perfect amphitheater, the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, an initiative put on by President Roosevelt in 1933 as a way to both employ young men during the Great Depression and conserve natural lands, allowed the finer details of the theater to be carved out to its awe-inspiring state that many flock to see today (Our Story: History).

Geologic Structure at the Entrance of the Amphitheater

My mom, sister, grandma, aunt, and I were making the trip out to Red Rocks with my cousin Kate and her boyfriend Mike as part of a longer trip to Denver to visit Kate (who is studying at Denver Law School) in October 2021. Stella, Kate’s cheerful Australian Cattle Dog mix, also joined us as a rightful part of the group. Standing at the opening of the amphitheater, I turn to Grace and we simultaneously daydream about seeing a concert there (concerts and travel are two of my favorite things, so it feels like an apt promise). Meanwhile, my mom and aunt are snapping pictures of everything around us and trying to get my sister and I in at least a few as well.

After taking an adequate amount of pictures, we continue onward to the rest of the grounds of the park. Once again, I am taken aback at the community that has formed around the natural structure. On our way to the gift shop (my grandma insisted that she buy us each a memento of our time here), we run into an Elvis impersonator coming out of the bathrooms on his way to officiate a wedding–my grandma was once again delighted. The gift shop was the equivalent of three small living rooms connected to each other. Each section was filled with slightly overpriced t-shirts, magnets, posters, and tote bags that showcased the natural rust color surrounding us. Half giftshop-half museum, the walls are covered with posters of past performers and facts about the building of the amphitheater. A true intersection of the arts and sciences, of human made architecture and natural wonder, Red Rocks, and the people that it brings to it, captivated us in the two hours that we got to spend there.