A long-envisioned shuttle to top outdoor destinations in the Denver area has officially hit the road. 

Memorial Day weekend marked the launch of Westracks ー beginning an initiative to cut back emissions and hassles for drivers who might otherwise fight traffic and struggle for parking. The free shuttle is also aimed at getting people without the means to places such as Red Rocks Park. 

As Ean Thomas Tafoya with nonprofit GreenLatinos Colorado said when Westracks was announced last year: “I have friends who I grew up with in inner city Denver who have still never been to Red Rocks. This regional cooperation is going to provide thousands of acres of access to people.”

Now on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays through Labor Day, one can take the light rail to the RTD station by the Jefferson County Government Center in Golden, where shuttles are expected every 15 minutes from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. People can also park at the station and board the shuttle, which along with Red Rocks will stop at Matthews/Winters Park, Dinosaur Ridge, downtown Morrison and the Morrison Natural History Museum. 

“Access to our region’s most iconic landscapes shouldn’t depend on owning a vehicle or winning a battle for parking,” Jefferson County Parks and Open Space Director Aaron Roth said in a news release. “I’m excited that the Westracks shuttle makes our parks available to all without traffic jams.”

Jefferson County is among local governments and agencies partnering on the three-year pilot program. The majority of the $1 million cost is being covered by a grant from RTD. 

Jefferson County Commissioner Andy Kerr has long championed the concept. 

“Everyone talks about the Red Rocks shuttle, and yes that was the genesis for the idea, but this is so much more than that,” he previously told The Denver Gazette. “We’ve been talking about this Westracks connections — music tracks, mountain biking tracks, hiking tracks, dinosaur tracks, motocross tracks — all of these tracks in this valley coming together.”

The shuttle will serve daytime hikers and sightseers to Red Rocks, but not the nighttime concertgoers. At least not yet. 

“I think it’s possible, I think there’s just more logistics that have to be worked out,” Denver Transit Director David Krutsinger previously told The Gazette. “There would have to be a lot of things worked out with private buses, shuttles and ride shares as well. There has to be a balance in the marketplace so you’re not putting them out of business.”