One of the things we are loving, loving, loving about Colorado Springs is the proximity to all these amazing hikes and trails in our backyard! Red Rocks Canyon is just on the outskirts of the Springs and made for some great after work hiking. Lots of people had the same idea!
There is space for hikers, bikers, rock climbers, horses and dogs. They have a dope mountain biking track for learning some of the basics and a ginormous off-leash area for your four legged friends. We used the AllTrails app to decide on our hike. Do you use AllTrails? It is awesome, you can set parameters for your hike, like distance, intensity, “features” like waterfalls, and so on. This one fit what we wanted for a Friday evening! Good distance, great views of the entire canyon, and lesser-used trail. AllTrails is also a great tool for hikes like this that aren’t well marked. We downloaded the map and with the use of GPS could ensure that we were staying on the trails we wanted to. I also felt fairly confident in our own sense of direction with this one as we did the rim loop around the top of the canyon. As long as the canyon was on our right, we were in good shape. There are tons of trails to choose from, too, so you can really make this park what you want it to be!
In some ways, the Red Rocks Canyon was better than Garden of the Gods. This might be a controversial statement, but stick with me for a sec. For one, you can SEE Garden of the Gods from the higher points in Red Rocks. The rock formations are formed the same way, of the same material, and are the same age. There aren’t some of the more spindle-y formations, but for what you lack in spindle-y formations to gain in the lack of crowds. Yes. Garden of the Gods was crowded. Really crowded. We were able to enjoy the same scenery with the same appeal in peaceful solitude.
Also. The best thing happened. We were hiking along one of the main trails to get back to our car. And, a precocious little guy, named Avery, called to me, from, say, 50 feet head, to ask me if I wanted him to show me a super secret trail with the greatest views. Uh, yes, Avery, yes, I do. I blindly followed this 6-year-old up a very steep hill to, what turned out to be, some of the best views of the park. Both of us were grateful for the detour. There is something about seeing things through the eyes of a child…. And not to worry, Avery was there with his dad who was tickled that I agreed!