Morrison is a small town squeezed into the mouth of a canyon, with high red sandstone walls on one side and the flat plain on the other. It is easy to ride through quickly, and that would be a mistake. The town sits at the edge of one of the most distinctive geological spots in Colorado, where the great tilted slabs of the Front Range come right up to the prairie like a row of rust-red sails.
Two things make the neighbourhood famous. Red Rocks Park, just up the road, holds an open-air amphitheatre set between giant sandstone monoliths, opened in the early 1940s and known worldwide as a concert venue. And the Morrison Formation, a layer of rock that gave its name to a vast swath of dinosaur country across the American West, was first described near here; the first big fossil finds of the late nineteenth century helped start the American dinosaur rush. Dinosaur Ridge, close by, still shows tracks in its tilted rock beds.
For riders, Morrison is the quiet corner of the Lariat Loop. Coming in from Evergreen, you follow Bear Creek down out of the mountains and drop into town with the canyon walls around you, then head north toward Golden on a road that runs along the foothills. The corners are gentle, the views of the plain are wide, and the traffic is thick on summer evenings when the amphitheatre has a show. If a concert is scheduled, expect backed-up roads and expensive parking, and plan your timing accordingly. Any other time, it is a pleasant, easy ride.
The town itself has a short main street of shops, cafes, and a few old stone buildings, and a stream running through. There are places to eat and drink but not a full-service stop for fuel, so use Evergreen or Golden, or the bigger suburb of Ken Caryl, to the southeast, for petrol and groceries. The light is best late in the afternoon, when the red rocks glow, and in spring the grass is green and the creek runs fast. In winter the road is usually clear, though shaded corners can hold ice for a while.