If you ask a dozen locals the best place to watch the sun come up in Colorado, at least two or three of them will tell you, “Easter sunrise service at Red Rocks.”
And it’s true. Ten thousand people pack the amphitheater, wearing their woolies, wrapped in blankets, toting small children and containers of coffee.
Some people come to Easter sunrise at Red Rocks as a key expression of faith. To others, it’s the kind of religious experience that happens when the beauty of the place we live in hits them like a ton of bricks. I suspect both statements apply to a lot of people.
On Easter morning – April 8 – thanks to the earlier switch to daylight-saving time the sun will rise at 6:20. It slowly will paint Red Rocks with light, from the top rows down.
But Red Rocks is only one of many places around Colorado where Easter is celebrated in a setting of natural beauty. Everyone should experience a Colorado sunrise at least once, and even if Easter is not your holiday, an organized event with music and fellow travelers is not a bad way to do it.
My only sunrise service experience was in high school back East. I was not allowed to participate until I had friends who were old enough to drive. As far as my mom was concerned, Christ would still be risen in a few hours, and greeted with decorum, in her best outfit, after coffee and breakfast.
Similar youthful energy and the smell of pine will be plentiful at Camp Id-Ra-Ha-Je’s Easter sunrise service at 6 a.m. at the camp near Bailey. A hot breakfast will be served afterward in the Aspen View dining hall.
Sunrise at the Gorge
Southwest of Cañon City, the sun will rise over the Royal Gorge, and people are invited to gather for Easter service from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m., said Peggy Gair of the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. Bagpiper Sam Swancutt plays before the service, which is on the south rim of the gorge, and the Fremont County organization Loaves and Fishes will accept canned food and donations. Gates open at 5:45 a.m.
“You forget how beautiful it is. We’re not normally here that time of day,” Gair said. “Bring a jacket. It gets a little crisp.”
The Red Rocks Easter sunrise service celebrates its 60th year this spring. Its model was an Easter sunrise service, founded in 1925 by the Rev. Albert Luce of the Central Christian Church, at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.
By midcentury, 25,000 people filled the space in front of Cathedral Spires, and the Easter services were broadcast around the world on Voice of America and Armed Forces Radio and, later, television. If you think that evangelism out of the Springs is a new phenomenon, think again.
The Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce promoted the city with postcards of the service that locals were encouraged to mail to family and friends. One I saw from 1930 seemed more focused on a parking lot filled with automobiles than the actual rocks.
The services declined in popularity, and eventually had to be moved to the old Chuckwagon Dinner site near the White Rocks. Logistics and expense forced their discontinuation about four years ago, but the park opens at 5 a.m. if you feel moved to be there.
Many ski resorts offer Easter morning services on the mountain. Check with your favorite ski hill before departing extra-early.
And in the Internet era, the Red Rocks service will be available as streaming video at coloradocouncilofchurches.org/Easter.html, if you want to watch the sunrise paint the rocks at a decent hour, after coffee and breakfast.
Lisa Everitt is a freelance writer who lives in Arvada. Contact her at lisaeveritt@comcast.net.
The details
The 60th annual Easter Sunrise Service at Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Morrison takes place April 8 beginning at 6 a.m. Gates to the park open at 4:30 a.m. Admission is free; bring packaged food for the COMPA ministry. Donations defray the cost of the service and underwrite care for the homeless. Info: coloradocouncilof churches.org/Easter.html.
Royal Gorge Bridge is southwest of Cañon City (royalgorgebridge.com or 1-888-333-5597).
Camp Id-Ra-Ha-Je’s sunrise service begins at 6 a.m. and is followed by a hot breakfast. Take U.S. 285 southwest of Denver to Park County Road 43, turn right and the camp is on your left (idrahaje.org or 303-838-5668).
Garden of the Gods is open from 5 a.m. on Easter Sunday. The Visitor Center and Museum opens at 9 a.m. (gardenofgods.com or 719-634-6666).
