A 1941 CCC-built outdoor amphitheatre in Jefferson County's red sandstone formations — a Hatchet Lady legend, a bearded miner's apparition, and documented RMPS investigations mark its paranormal reputation
18300 W Alameda Pkwy, Morrison, CO 80465
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Park access is free. Concert tickets vary by event. Parking fee applies during events.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved amphitheatre seating and main paths; surrounding park has unpaved trails on rocky terrain. Significant elevation change in amphitheatre seating area.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1941 · Natural site used for concerts by John Brisben Walker from 1906 · Purchased by City of Denver 1928 for $50,000 · Built by CCC workers 1935–1941 using 800 tons of quarried stone · Dedicated June 15, 1941; Governor Ralph Carr and Mayor Benjamin Stapleton presiding · 9,525-seat outdoor amphitheatre; part of Denver Mountain Parks system · One of the most celebrated outdoor concert venues in the United States
The red sandstone formations at what is now Red Rocks Park have been used for human activity for thousands of years. Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and other tribes utilized the canyon. The site entered American popular consciousness in the early 1900s when Denver real estate entrepreneur John Brisben Walker recognized the acoustic properties of the natural rock bowl and began staging concerts there between 1906 and 1910 on a temporary platform. Walker called the site the Garden of the Titans; opera singer Mary Garden performed there in 1911, one of the first nationally recognized performers at the venue.
The City of Denver purchased the land from Walker for $50,000 in 1928 and began planning a permanent structure. The Morrison Civilian Conservation Corps Camp was established in 1935 as part of the New Deal's public works program, employing unemployed men aged 17 to 25 to construct the amphitheatre. CCC workers spent six years quarrying and placing 800 tons of stone and 30,000 pounds of reinforced steel to create the 9,525-seat venue.
Red Rocks Amphitheatre was officially dedicated on June 15, 1941. The ceremony included classical music selections and a performance of 'Home on the Range' by the Denver Municipal Chorus, presided over by Governor Ralph Carr and Mayor Benjamin F. Stapleton. The venue was initially intended for orchestras and opera. Its use expanded over subsequent decades to encompass rock, country, and other popular music, and it became one of the most celebrated outdoor concert venues in North America.
The surrounding park encompasses approximately 868 acres and includes several miles of hiking trails through the red sandstone formations. It is administered as part of Denver's Mountain Parks system.
Sources
The Red Rocks ghost most consistently documented by investigators is not the Hatchet Lady but the Trading Post. The Rocky Mountain Paranormal Society conducted interviews with employees there, documenting accounts of scratching sounds, disembodied voices, autonomous door movements, and merchandise falling off shelves. RMPS obtained a geological survey of the area that found no seismic activity to explain the incidents. Employees named in the accounts include Cill Carle and Matt Corry.
The Hatchet Lady is the site's most popular ghost story. Multiple origin theories circulate. One account, from concession worker Cill Carle, identifies her as Old Mrs. Johnson, a Morrison resident known for carrying a hatchet and pulling her jacket over her head to frighten young couples after dark. A second theory, documented by the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Society, proposes she was a homeless woman who lived in a cave within the rock formations and died in the 1950s. Accounts describe the figure appearing to misbehaving children and couples seeking privacy, typically at the highest point of the formation, sometimes without a head.
A second apparition, described as a man approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall with a white beard, appears in restricted areas near the stage. He is typically described carrying a bottle and is associated in ghost-tour accounts with the mining era that predates the amphitheatre's 1941 construction.
The site's Indigenous history is documented but the specific reports of apparitions in ceremonial clothing in ghost-tour literature are not traceable to documented sources. Those accounts are not repeated here.
Notable Entities
Red Rocks Park is open year-round for hiking, fitness trails, and exploring the natural rock formations around the amphitheatre. The 9,525-seat venue opened June 15, 1941 and is operated by the City of Denver. The Trading Post gift shop and visitor facilities are located on the south side of the complex.
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