Red Rock Canyon Open Space is a city park in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

. It is situated on the west side of the city, adjacent to

Manitou Springs Manitou Springs is a home rule municipality located at the foot of Pikes Peak in western El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The town was founded for its natural mineral springs. The downtown area continues to be of interest to traveler ...

and south of

U.S. Route 24 U.S. Route 24 or U.S. Highway 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States Numbered Highways of 1926 which runs east and west for most of its routing. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Misso ...

. The park consists of a series of parallel ridges (called " hogbacks") and eroded canyons. While these ridges, relatively low compared to other in the region, include a continuation of the same

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

rocks of the

Fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

and

Lyons Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

formations that make up the

Garden of the Gods Garden of the Gods (Arapaho: ''Ho3o’uu Niitko’usi’i'') is a public park located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. of the park was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971. Name The area now known as Garden of the ...

a few miles to the north, most of the other rock formations also associated with the geology of the Colorado Front Range can be accessed within a short walking distance. Rather than being pristine conservation land, the park contains a number of reclaimed former industrial sites, including quarries, gravel pits, a gold refining mill, and a landfill. The land parcels were purchased piecemeal by John George Bock in the 1920s and 1930s, and acquired by the city of Colorado Springs in 2003 for use as a recreational site. Today the most visible scars from past exploitation of the land are the remains of the Kenmuir Quarry, which produced Lyons sandstone in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the Gypsum canyon landfill, which operated from 1970 to 1986 and remains off-limits to park visitors. The park contains many miles of trails of varying difficulty that wind through and around the rock formations, and is popular with hikers, joggers, and mountain bikers. The park trails connect to the Intemann trail to Manitou Springs and the Section 16 conservation area to the south. Technical rock climbing is allowed with a permit. In 2012, it was awarded the Stewardship Award by the Trails and Open Space Coalition File:Red Rock Canyon Open Space 2.jpg, Mesa Trail, Red Rock Canyon Open Space, September 2019 File:Red Rock Canyon Open Space distant view.jpg, left, Red Rock Canyon Open Space view from

File:Rock formations and field in Red Rock Canyon Open Space.png, Rock formations and field in the park File:Path and rocks in Red Rock Canyon Open Space.png, Path in the park

References

{{Reflist
City of Colorado Springs - Red Rock Canyon

Friends of Red Rock Canyon
Parks in Colorado Springs, Colorado