About Denver, Colorado
Denver is the perfect base to start your Colorado & Utah, or Wyoming & South Dakota vacation. You will have all the services of a major city, while being within reach of many national parks and monuments.
Nicknamed the Mile High City, there is a spot on the west steps of the State Capitol building that is exactly 5,280 feet (one mile!) above sea level. Climb the steps to see the plaque that marks this spot, then continue up to the rotunda for beautiful views of the entire Front Range, from Pikes Peak, all the way north to the Wyoming border. Tours of the inside of the building are also offered.
Downtown Denver is dominated by the 16th Street Mall, a pedestrian strip lined with stores, bars, and restaurants. Relax and unwind at one of Denver’s many breweries, or experience Rocky Mountain cuisine, with its emphasis on local products like Rocky Mountain trout or fresh Colorado beef, bison, and lamb, in one of Denver’s 2000+ restaurants. Southwestern culinary influences also abound. Visit Denver’s landmark Brown Palace Hotel for a guided tour or afternoon tea, or watch a musical, play, or concert at the Denver Performing Arts Complex in the lively theatre district.
Denver has multiple museums, such as the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, the Children’s Museum of Denver, the Buffalo Bill Memorial Museum and Grave, and the Colorado Railroad Museum, – to name just a few! There is also the Denver Art Museum with its collections of Native American, pre-Columbian, and Spanish colonial art, you can tour the United States Mint where 10 billion coins are made each year, or you could visit Dinosaur Ridge, the site where the first large dinosaur bones in America were discovered.
Interesting Facts About Denver
- Each year in October, Denver plays host to the Great American Beer Festival.
- On the inside of the Colorado State Capitol building, a rare, rose-colored Colorado onyx was used as wainscoting. The entire world’s supply was used in this building and no more has ever been found.