Red Rocks Loop (reverse)
Distance: 6.08 km
Elevation Gain: 165 m
Elevation Loss: 160 m
Difficulty:
128 (Easy)
FIETS Index: 0.32 FIETS
Avg Grade: 2.90 %
Max cat climb: 4
Min elevation: 1810 m
Max elevation: 1921 m
Ride Category:
Hilly
Red Rocks Park, at Morrison, west of Denver, Colorado, USA, lies on the Lariat Loop, a byway of mountain roads that Denver began building in 1912 to link its mountain parks. The same byway climbs Lookout Mountain above Golden, a climb that featured in the final stage of the first USA Pro Cycling Challenge in 2011. The park’s red rocks are Fountain Formation sandstone, laid down about 290 million years ago.
This ride follows the park loop the other way, starting at the top beside the amphitheatre, which sits between Ship Rock and Creation Rock. The Civilian Conservation Corps built it from 1936, and it opened in 1941. U2 filmed Under a Blood Red Sky there in 1983. The loop then drops to the Morrison side, takes its steepest climb and passes the Trading Post before climbing back to the top.
