Hiking Red Rock Canyon Open Space in Colorado Springs (Mesa, Greenlee & Red Rock Canyon Loop)
Planning to hike at the Red Rock Canyon Open Space in Colorado Springs? Be prepared for some easy yet rewarding hikes! While there are a number of trails at Red Rock Canyon Open Space, the most popular trail is definitely the Mesa Trail, Greenlee Trail and Red Rock Canyon Trail loop, which this blog will go into details.
We recently spent a short weekend in Colorado Springs for a friend’s wedding. While we were there, we decided to explore some of the best attractions, such as Pike’s Peak, Garden of Gods and Red Rock Canyon Open Space.
As nature lovers, I was super excited to find out about Red Rock Canyon Open Space. The landscape is not something I can find in New York and the weather was perfect (we visited the third week of September).
This hiking guide will show you what to expect on the Mesa Trail, Greenlee Trail and Red Rock Canyon Path loop at Red Rock Canyon Open Space.
Where is Red Rock Canyon Open Space?
Red Rock Canyon Open Space is about 5 miles (11 minute drive) from downtown Colorado Springs.
It is only about a mile from Garden of the Gods and 7.5 miles from Pikes Peak Highway entrance.
You can easily reach Red Rock Canyon Open Space driving on US-24.
How Much Does it Cost to Visit Red Rock Canyon Open Space?
Red Rock Canyon Open space is free to visit.
Hiking Trails at Red Rock Canyon Open Space
There are a number of hiking trails at Red Rock Canyon Open Space in Colorado Springs. If you are looking at the map of the space, then you can roughly into 3rds, with the following trails.
- East side (left side of photo): Hogback Valley Trail (Easy) & Red Rock Rim Trail (intermediate)
- Middle: Red Rock Canyon Trail (Easy), Red Rock Canyon Path (Intermediate), Greenlee Trail (Intermediate), Mesa Trail (Intermediate)
- West Side (right side of photo): Sand Canyon Trail (Easy)
There is also the Contemplative Trail (hard) that connects to other trails to make a huge loop of the Red Rock Canyon Open Space.
Since we only had a couple of hours, we decided to do the loop around the canyon.
Logistics of Mesa Trail, Greenlee Trail and Red Rock Canyon Loop
Based on the trail map above, you can see that there are different ways to make a loop. Some people choose to go up Mesa Trail and come down Greenlee Trail, but we decided to explore a little more, so we looped back via Red Rock Canyon Path.
- Going up Mesa Trail (1.45 miles) [red]
- Coming down Greenlee Trail (0.6 miles) [green]
- Cross over Quarry Pass Trail (0.2 miles) [black]
- Come down Red Rock Canyon Path & Trail (1 mile) [yellow]
The entire loop was about 3.25 miles plus a little bit of walking back to the parking lot.
A modified version of this loop would be to cross over on the Quarry Pass trail half way up Mesa Trail, instead of going all the way up Mesa Trail. The modified version would just skip Greenlee Trail altogether and shorten the hike.
We were originally going to do this shortened loop, but we met these two old ladies on the hike who told us going all the way up Mesa Trail offered a really nice view, so we decided to do the longer loop for the view.
How hard is the Mesa Trail, Greenlee Trail and Red Rock Canyon Loop?
Overall, this loop is not very difficult, with an elevation gain of about 500 feet. However this is also not a walk in the park like Garden of the Gods.
The entire Mesa trail (1.45 miles) is essentially a gradual uphill walk. Since Red Rock Canyon Open Space is already at a 6000 feet elevation above sea level, for anyone visiting from a lower altitude, it would mean breathing harder despite the low elevation gain.
After the uphill on Mesa trail, the rest of the trail is pretty much downhill, making it really easy to go down.
How long does the Mesa, Greenlee and Red Rock Canyon Loop take?
It took us about 90 minutes to do the entire loop and I took a couple of breaks on the Mesa trail going uphill. We did walk really fast for the rest of the trail since we were in a rush to get back, but in general it should not take more than 2 hours to do the entire loop at a leisurely pace.
Our experience of hiking Mesa Trail/ Greenlee Trail/ Red Rock Canyon Loop
Parking at Red Rock Canyon Open Space
There are several parking lots at Red Rock Canyon Open Space, so it was super easy to find parking, especially when we visited around 9am on the weekend.
Since we knew we were going to hike the Mesa trail, we parked at the parking lot right next to the trail (the eastern end of the parking lot).
Finding the Mesa trail head
After we parked the car in the closest parking lot, we first checked out the trail map shown above, to get a good understanding of the options we have.
We walked east towards the Mesa trailhead based on the map, however, the actual Mesa Trail trailhead is quite obscure. It is not at the end of the parking lot as we thought it was.
The Mesa trail trailhead is a little before the RRT trailhead, behind a gate shown below. We saw some people walking up that way and saw the small trail marker that says “MST” so we knew we were going the right way.
Hiking up Mesa Trail
Going up the Mesa Trail took us about 35 minutes for the 1.45 mile stretch from the parking lot.
The Mesa Trail is a slight uphill the entire way and there are multiple places where you can split off onto a different trail. Since the Mesa Trail connects with Greenlee trail (at both ends), after about 5 minutes of starting we already saw a sign to Greenlee trail. But we knew we were gonna come back down Greenlee trail so we decided to continue on Mesa Trail.
The second intersection on the Mesa Trail was an option to go left onto the Quarry Trail. This was our original plan, and had we stuck with this plan, we would’ve seen the cool stone carved “steps” into the Red Rocks. We didn’t though.
After another 20 minutes, we finally got to the top of Mesa Trail. The view opens up at the top and we could see the rocks at the Garden of Gods. We also had a slight view of the actual red rocks canyon but we would be hiking there next.
Hiking down Greenlee Trail
Once we reached the “top” of Mesa Trail, we continued walking around the corner. The Mesa Trail will intersect with either Greenlee Trail or Roundup Trail which is a little further. We decided to go down the Greenlee Trail, which is a 0.4 mile stretch.
Unlike the Mesa Trail, which is quite wide, the Greenlee Trail is quite narrow and looks more like a dirt path than an actual trail. The trail is entirely uncovered and we walked among the grass while having the view of the Garden of Gods most of the way.
Eventually you will walk towards the actual Red Rock Canyon, where you can either turn right onto Quarry Pass Trail to connect with Red Rock Canyon Path or continue down Greenlee Trail all the way to the beginning of Mesa Trail.
We decided to turn right onto Quarry Pass Trail.
Quarry Pass Trail
This portion of the Quarry Pass Trail is very short, only about 0.2 miles, but to me this is one of the most interesting trails on this hike.
While it is short, the Quarry Pass Trail actually cuts into the Red Rock Canyon. Immediately after we turned on the trail, we saw huge red rocks that look like they were carved into. Apparently historically this area was an actual Quarry (hence the name), so the rocks were cut into by the quarry operations.
There is a side “stair” that we had to go down to get to the bottom of the rocks. When we were there, there were a couple of other girls there trying to figure out how to go down. It’s not difficult climbing down, but just be careful since there is no railing.
Red Rock Canyon Pass/ Red Rock Canyon Trail
After getting down from the Quarry Pass Trail, we are now at the bottom of the Red Rock Canyon, how cool is that! There are actually 2 trails that go through the middle of the canyon, a wide and well maintained Red Rock Canyon Trail right along the wall of the canyon (completely in the shade in the morning), or the Red Rock Canyon Path that is in the middle of the canyon with no cover.
We thought the view from the path is nicer since it’s in the middle of the canyon instead of against the wall. The path is similar to the Greenlee trail, where it’s pretty narrow and along the grass. This is when I saw a huge snake! I was not expecting to see a snake on this popular trail and I screamed so loud that I think I actually scared the snake as it quickly went away.
So if you are scared of snakes, you might want to remain on the Red Rock Canyon Trail instead! Again, this portion of the hike is short, only about 0.5 miles before we reached the reservoir.
When you reach the reservoir area, you will also see a large picnic pavilion and a bathroom nearby. Remember to look back at the canyon and the rock formations! The view is quite nice from the bathroom area and I imagine it would be quite nice during sunset too.
After the picnic area, we looped back to our parking lot and finished our morning hike at Red Rock Canyon Open Space!
Can you bring dogs to Red Rock Canyon Open Space
Yes, Red Rock Canyon Open Space is dog friendly. Dogs on leash are welcomed on the trail.
There is also an off-leash dog area, which contains two trails:
- Lower dog loop trail (0.2 miles)
- Upper dog loop trail (0.35 miles)
Outside of this area, dogs need to be leashed, including the parking lot.
Bathrooms at Red Rock Canyon Open Space
There are portable toilets at the two main parking lots.
Other things to do at Red Rock Canyon Open Space
While we were there, we saw a few people doing rock climbing, which requires a permit.
On the Mesa Trail, I saw signs for biking and horses, so I guess you can bike or ride a horse on some of the trails as well.
After hiking down Red Rock Canyon pass and on the way back to the parking lot, we saw a bike only area where you can do tricks and ride up/down wooden slopes/ platforms.
Lastly there is an off-leash dog area with two trails.
Like this post? Pin this Red Rock Canyon hiking guide to pinterest!