Our new domain is in effect (May 2018)!
Please update your links or bookmarks to RedRocksHistory.org!
August 2015: Red Rocks achieves National Historic Designation
Red Rocks Park, purchased by Denver in 1928, was one of the last Mountain Parks to be acquired. It contains a remarkable landscape of red sandstone monoliths that has been a regional attraction since the 1870s— at least! These features can be viewed from road and trail, with new scenic vistas around every corner.
Here you’ll find some of the history behind this famous park and its world-class concert venue, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, completed in 1941 by workers from the nearby Civilian Conservation Corps camp. We’ve divided the Park’s history into the following periods:
- Prehistory
- Before 1906: Garden of the Angels
- 1906 to 1927: Garden of the Titans
- 1928 to 1941: Denver’s Park of the Red Rocks
This location directs you to internet resources for the history, natural history, geology, and scenery of Red Rocks Park, wherever they are located. Use the menu above to access sections of interest and the links to the left to explore further. Please respect any copyrights and other restrictions posted by the linked sites.
Red Rocks is located near the historic town of Morrison, Colorado. For information on and links to the history of Jefferson County, Colorado, see HistoricJeffco.wordpress.com
More News and Views
John Brisben Walker and Cosmopolitan Magazine
Tour Red Rocks Park in Winter with this gallery of photos taken February 15, 2007.
Visit again for more great old information on Red Rocks Park at this location. Please visit any of the links provided for more information. If your favorite site is not listed, let us know so we can consider including it.
Red Rocks History 
I’ve visited your Amphitheater and I love it. It has been known for the Earth Sunrise Easter Service, bands, plays, and many more. We have to give speeches this year on a landmark that interests us and i am most defiantly going to do your Red Rock Amphitheater. When i went their last year with my Grandpa and his girlfriend Judy said she was getting tired of walking, but when we got home she said it was definatly woth walking around. 🙂
I was stationed at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver during the early 70’s. During the Easter of 1971 a bunch of us attended the Easter concert at the Red Rocks. I’m looking for any history of the concert in particular about a band , I think, called Sky King. It was a memorable event as the band parachuted onto the concert area. Could anyone provide me or direct me to any and all information about this time in history.
Forgive the delay– this one got by me! Was the concert part of the Easter Sunrise Service or separate? There’s a list of performers at the Red Rocks Visitor Center, but I don’t know whether it includes the Sunrise Services. There’s a historian for Mountain Parks who works at the Buffalo Bill Museum, so that’s another possibility. Good luck!
I searched the historic photos at http://digital.denverlibrary.org/ with no results. The Western History Collection there has the Rocky Mountain News archives, so you might contact someone there. I know they also have a clipping file for Red Rocks that might have old concert articles, and a card catalog of old articles. Are you close enough to go there? You could also try the Denver Post archives. That’s all I’ve got!
My uncle: Benjamin Gilbert in his memoirs wrote that he sang in full Indian Headress up on the rocks to dedicate the opening 1941? Any chance there is a photo?
Thanks!