Monday, July 30, 2012

Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater

(Buckley AFB, Aurora, CO) Hi 94 Lo 67 – Today was our last full day in Denver. One last sight we wanted to see before leaving was Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater. Red Rocks Park is a mountain park west of Denver and is part of the Denver Mountain Parks System. Its known for its large red sandstone outcrops. (Click on photos to enlarge them.)
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The main attraction in Red Rocks Park is the Red Rocks Amphitheater, a major concert arena that was cut out of the side of a mountain. If you click on the image below to enlarge it you can see the Denver skyline in the background.
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Here it is zoomed in.
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There were dozens of fitness enthusiasts running across and up and down the rows and steps of the arena. Part of the fitness culture of Colorado.
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Apparently management encourages the fitness activity inside the amphitheater, as you can see by this sign.
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These guys started at the bottom of the seating bowl and jumped up on each of the 4-ft. high side barriers, all the way to the top. Man, talk about being in shape!
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I walked down to the bottom near the stage to get a few shots from a different perspective.
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Red Rocks Amphitheater is known for the beautiful rock outcrops on each side of the seating bowl.
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They shine lights on the rocks during concerts, which must be a beautiful thing to see! I wish we would have been able to take in a concert.

There is a small Red Rocks Hall of Fame, with tributes to many of the stars that performed on the Red Rocks stage. This wall listed every performer, by year, starting when the amphitheater opened in 1941. Basically, you name the star or group, and they’ve played here. The Beatles even performed here in August 1964. Believe it or not they didn’t sell out the place for their one show.
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On the way out we stopped at the Red Rocks Trading Post.
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It was a typical gift shop, but out back there was a terrace area that looked out onto some beautiful scenery.
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On the way out of the park we took the time to search out a geocache. It was a small micro-cache, and it was nice to get a find in Colorado.
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Dee’s left ear has been stopped up ever since our trip through Rocky Mountain National Park a few days ago. While driving home today it finally opened up. she says it’s still “crackling”, but she feels a lot better, and can now hear again.

All in all not a bad way to end our stay in the Denver area. Tomorrow we move south to Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy Famcamp. We’re both getting hitch itch, so it’ll be good to get on the road, even if it is only an hour and a half trip.

5 comments:

Jim and Sandie said...

Our son was just at a concert there a week ago. But, of course, his pictures weren't near as beautiful as yours. I think those guys are nuts climbing up like that. Or I should say young and fit.

GGuncle said...

glad your ear is better..ellens older sister lives in col. springs.
you've got a lot of things to enjoy in that area. stay safe. dom

Mike and Terri said...

Looks like another great day. Glad your feeling better Dee. Thanks for all the photos, we'll have to go there someday.

RiverCat said...

Are you guys going to be in Colorado Springs for awhile? I'm heading to Quartzsite tomorrow for a couple days then on to Phoenix for a week or so. I seem to remember you were going to visit someone down that way and wondered if we'd cross paths...

Kevin Read said...

Looks like a beautiful area. I would love to get a workout at the amphitheater going up the stairs but I have to admit I think I would rather be on some of the trails in the area and working my way up, I think it would be prettier scenery than looking at the stairs at the amphitheater. Again this will have to be some where that we can check out when we one day make it to that area.

Kevin and Ruth
www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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