People often refer to Red Rocks Amphitheater as the best concert venue in the world.
They’re not wrong.
After visiting over 10 times ourselves, we are ready to share what we know about this iconic place.
Red Rocks is in Morrison, Colorado which is a cute little mountain town. But, I’d suggest staying in Morrison or in the outskirts of Golden. Specifically the Hampton Inn or the Holiday Inn. I have stayed at both and they are so conveniently located. It puts you about 10 minutes from the venue and 10 minutes to the other mountain towns.
There a few spots in Morrison to grab some food, coffee, or drinks before the show. I love Higher Grounds Coffee and Pangea Coffee Roasters. If you like breweries, we like Red Rocks Beer Garden but you may have to look farther to Golden. Golden has Golden Mill which is a taphouse and a ton of food options, perfect for a group. There is also Golden City Brewing and of course, Coors. For late night food post concert, we hit Fat Shack or Jack in the Box. Neither are local to us, so it still feels unique.
The venue is open as a park during the day and we suggest exploring then to take it in before the typical concert busy-ness.
I would HIGHLY suggest going on a little hike around the trails in the park, specifically the Trading Post Trail, but maybe do that the day before or after your show if you’ll have time.
Depending when you are going, you can check the website to see if there are any events happening during the day. People are often running the steps or there might be a group yoga session going on.
BE PREPARED FOR THE WALK AND THE STEPS. Getting from any of the parking lots into the venue is a hike itself. Speaking of, there is a dedicated lot for Uber/Lyft drop off and pickup which is the farthest. Parking is free if you choose to drive. There are free shuttles running throughout to the top of the venue and you should definitely hop on one to conserve energy. It’ll drop you at the top and you can experience the view from up there before walking down to the seats. Once you get to your row, I wouldn’t go back up, ever. Everything you need will be lower. Including when you leave, walk down, not up.
Just in case you are not in love with your seat choice, along the sides of the steps that go down into the venue are dirty spots within the trees. You are allowed to stand or sit in those spots, you cannot stand in the walkway areas though. A lot of people will bring blankets to lay down for this purpose specifically.
The main artist merch booths are at the top and at the bottom to the right of the stage. There may be some “satellite” locations with limited items as well. But, artists often have dedicated Red Rocks merch that people really want so the merch lines will be LONG.
If Red Rocks is a big deal to the artist (and it usually is) they may organize a hangout somewhere with early merch shopping. Keep an eye out for details from the artist leading up to your date!
Refreshments are at the top, some drink options in the middle and then more selection all the way down. Bathrooms are going to be all the way up top or down to the bottom as well. If you notice from the photos, we seem to favor a certain side. There are more of those side tree spots to stand in and less steps for food, drinks, and bathrooms with an entrance/exit straight up or straight down.
I would also be remiss to not mention that Chick-fil-A sells sandwiches after the show at every exit, if you would prefer that as an option.
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