When to leave for a show at Red Rocks.

Show night at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Colorado. Not sure which time on the ticket matters? The concert night plan covers doors, opener and headliner at any venue; this page is about this one.

Every row is editable. Tap the showtime or any duration and the plan recomputes backward. The first travel row is your leave-by time.

Travel time to Red Rocks

The 35-minute drive is a typical run from Denver without show traffic (the optimistic number). In the app, set Red Rocks as the destination and Apple Maps fills in the time from where you’re leaving.

Then add for show night: every car aiming at the same entrance (real drive to Red Rocks). Change the row and every step before it moves.

What the time on the ticket means

The time on the ticket is when the first act is due on, and at most shows here the doors opened an hour earlier. With a general-admission ticket that gap is not spare: the bench you get is decided by where you are in the line when the doors open, and everyone with the same idea is on the same walk in. So the plan puts you in that line before doors, and the stretch from doors to showtime is a row of its own.

With a reserved seat the deadline really is the show. Aim to be on your bench ten minutes before the first act, and budget the walk to your row: it is the part people misjudge, not the drive.

Here is the evening drawn to scale. A maps app can number the drive. The rest is the walk in from the lot, the bag check, and the walk to your row.

Getting to Red Rocks

From Denver it is about sixteen miles: I-70 west to C-470 and out Alameda Parkway, or Morrison Road through the town of Morrison, which is the prettier way in and the one that backs up first. There is no scheduled bus or train to the park. The alternatives are the private shuttles that leave from Union Station, RiNo and a few downtown bars a couple of hours before doors, or a rideshare dropped at the Upper North lot. Rideshare pickup after the show is only from the Jurassic Lot at the bottom of the park, a downhill walk of about fifteen minutes, and surge pricing on a weekend night is real.

The gate, the bag, and the stairs

Screening is a bag check and a walk-through at each entrance, and the line moves. What it does not forgive is the wrong bag: single-pocket or clear bags up to 13 by 15 by 8 inches, small purses up to 6 by 9, nothing with multiple pockets. An empty reusable bottle up to 32 ounces is fine and there are refill stations inside. Food goes in a one-gallon clear bag. No umbrellas, no glass, and no re-entry once your ticket is scanned. Then the stairs: the seating rises about a hundred feet from the stage to row 70, and the walk to a high row at altitude takes longer than it looks.

Common questions

How early should I get to Red Rocks?

For a general-admission ticket, be in the line before doors, which are an hour before showtime at most shows here; the plan above puts you there fifteen minutes early. For a reserved seat, aim to be at the gate half an hour before the show. Either way the walk in from the lot is the part to budget for, and it depends on which lot you got.

What time should I leave for a 7:30 PM show at Red Rocks?

About 5:20 PM from Denver for a general-admission ticket with a 35-minute drive and a spot in the upper lots. Later for a reserved seat, earlier for the Lower South lot or a tailgate. Every row above is editable; the first travel row is your leave-by time.

What time do the lots open at Red Rocks?

Two hours before doors. Parking is included in the ticket. Upper North fills first and empties last; once the upper lots are full, cars go to Lower South and the walk gets long. The official Red Rocks site has the day's times.

How long is the walk from the parking lot at Red Rocks?

Ten minutes from the upper lots. From Lower South it is about half a mile of dirt trail, uphill, at 6,450 feet. Comfortable shoes and a water bottle are not optional. The plan's default for the Lower South lot is 25 minutes, and it is editable.

Can I take a bus or train to Red Rocks?

Not a scheduled one; there is no RTD service to the park. Private shuttles run from Union Station, RiNo and a few downtown bars, leaving a couple of hours before doors, and rideshare drops at the Upper North lot. Pickup afterwards is only from the Jurassic Lot at the bottom of the park.

What bag can I bring into Red Rocks?

A single-pocket or clear bag up to 13 by 15 by 8 inches, or a small purse up to 6 by 9. Multi-pocket bags are turned away, and there is no re-entry once your ticket is scanned. An empty bottle up to 32 ounces is fine; there are refill stations inside.

Going to a game instead? The stadium pages. Flying in? The airport pages.

Build it once, then use it every show

Ready Time keeps the plan and subtracts again when the show time changes. Put in the next ticket and the same steps land on new times, with an alert on each one.