Denver Day Trips

Nestled under 12,000-foot-high mountains, this restored village captures Colorado life during the silver boom of the 1870s. Tour the luxurious Hotel de Paris and travel via the Silver Plume Railroad across a spectacular 100-foot-high trestle.

Sample a Colorado ski resort by boarding the Ski Train at Denver’s Union Station. Take a lift to the top of Winter Park Mtn. (elev. 10,700 ft.) and survey the view over lunch at the Lodge at Sunspot. Come summer, haul your bike on a lift and hit the Fraser River Trail.

Drive Trail Ridge Road across the Continental Divide (two miles above sea level), perhaps the most spectacular mountain drive in North America. Hike to waterfalls, picnic lakeside, and go horseback riding.

Roll the dice at casinos, the newest attractions in these 1870s silver mining towns. Tour mines and mining museums and stop at the Teller House Hotel, where Ulysses S. Grant once slept. Come summer, attend an opera at the Central City Opera House.

Survey the west from a pioneer’s 14,000-foot-high point of view. Stop at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, tour the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and gaze at towering sandstone rock formations in the Garden of the Gods.

By night, the big ones – Harry Connick, Jr., Lyle Lovett, k.d. lang – entertain at this 9,450-seat auditorium carved out of red sandstone cliffs. By day, visitors hike through rock formations that form spectacular settings for bird, plant and animal life.

No doubt you’ll spot scenic Boulder, nestled against the Flatiron Mountains, as your plane descends into Denver. This longtime hippie hangout boasts attractive college campuses, a thriving food scene, and great nearby trails to hike and climb.