Where to Stay for Paul Simon at Red Rocks

Some shows you go to. Some shows you make a trip out of. Paul Simon at Red Rocks on a Friday and Saturday night in June is the second kind.

The catalog alone makes the case — "The Sound of Silence," "Mrs. Robinson," "The Boxer," "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," "Graceland," "You Can Call Me Al." Over six decades of songwriting, Paul Simon has been in the background of American life long enough — radio, films, bar playlists, your parents' record collection — that the catalog feels less like a discography and more like ambient memory. Seeing him at Red Rocks is the kind of thing people fly across the country for.

Two nights, Friday and Saturday. That's a weekend. Plan it like one.

Show details

• Artist: Paul Simon
• Dates: Friday, June 12 and Saturday, June 13, 2026
• Venue: Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
• Doors: Typically 7 p.m. — confirm on your ticket or at redrocksonline.com
• Tickets: Available via AXS →

A show worth planning around

Red Rocks has been hosting shows for nearly a century. The natural amphitheatre — 9,525 seats between two 300-foot sandstone formations — is hard to describe to people who haven't been: the sound carries differently, the scale surprises you, and on a warm June evening with the Denver skyline visible and the stars coming out above the rocks, it's genuinely its own thing.

Paul Simon's audience tends to plan. They travel for this. They book good accommodations and stay multiple nights. If that describes you, the lodging decision matters more than it would for a one-night show on your side of town.

Where to stay: west, not east

The default move for out-of-town Red Rocks guests is a downtown Denver hotel. Denver is the nearest major city, there are plenty of rooms, and it looks close on a map. But the concert-night reality is different: traffic on I-70 and C-470 heading west to Morrison, a ride-share at peak surge pricing, and then the full reverse after the show — midnight, everyone trying to get back to Denver at once.

The overlooked alternative is to drive west past Red Rocks instead. The venue sits on the edge of the foothills, and fifteen minutes beyond it, Highway 285 climbs into quiet mountain country — Conifer, then Pine. Post-show traffic from Red Rocks goes east into Denver. You go west, and the road is nearly empty.

Lowkey A-Frame is in Pine — about 30 minutes from Red Rocks via Highway 285. A remodeled 1960s A-frame cabin with a private hot tub, mountain views, two bedrooms sleeping up to four, and the kind of quiet that makes the morning after feel like a bonus day rather than a checkout deadline. It's 30 minutes from the amphitheatre and 45 from Denver International Airport.

"Close enough to Red Rocks but far away from the city. Clean and charming and full of great little details. The hot tub was fantastic. In the mornings we had plenty of mule deer to watch while sipping freshly ground coffee provided by the host."

For a Friday–Saturday run like this one, the pattern writes itself: arrive Thursday or Friday afternoon, settle in, drive to the Friday show, come back to the cabin, sleep in Saturday, see the Saturday show, Sunday at your own pace.

Getting there: night-of logistics

Timing your drive in

From the cabin, plan about 40 minutes to the Red Rocks parking gates. Aim to arrive at least an hour before the headliner — June evenings at Red Rocks fill up, and the walk from the upper lots is part of the ritual.

Parking

Upper lots fill first on big nights. If you arrive with an hour to spare, you'll have good options. Some guests park in Morrison and walk in — particularly useful on Saturday when the lots are slower to clear. Follow the parking attendants; they've got the flow down.

Getting home

Exit toward Morrison after the show and pick up CO-74 west to Highway 285 south. Nearly everyone else is heading into Denver — you'll be in the opposite lane. The drive back is typically 30 minutes. The cabin and hot tub are waiting.

June at Red Rocks: what to pack

Days in early June run warm — often 75–82°F — with long light and wildflowers coming in along the trails. Evenings cool fast once the sun drops behind the rocks. By the end of a show, you might be looking at 55°F or lower. A light jacket that packs flat is worth the bag space.

Afternoon thunderstorms are normal in Colorado in early summer. They typically roll through in the 2–5 p.m. window and clear before doors. Check the forecast in the morning, and if there's weather moving in, give yourself extra time on the drive to Red Rocks. A poncho is more useful than an umbrella in the amphitheatre seating.

The morning after — and the day between

The Friday–Saturday run gives you Saturday morning between shows, and Sunday morning after.

Staunton State Park is ten minutes from the cabin — 3,800 acres of trails through pine and aspen with views of the Continental Divide. If you've never hiked in a Colorado June, the wildflowers and the light are something. Pine Valley Ranch Park, 15 minutes away, has a lake and a gentler trail system good for recovery-day walking.

For lunch, Aspen Creek Cellars is a winery and restaurant in Pine with a patio on the creek that's genuinely hard to leave. It's the kind of place that turns a 45-minute lunch into two hours, which is exactly what the day between shows calls for.

See our full Red Rocks lodging guide for a direct comparison of your options, or book the cabin directly.

Written from our cabin in Pine, Colorado — about 30 minutes from Red Rocks Amphitheatre and 45 minutes from Denver.