City and Mountain Parks

City Parks

Denver has more than 200 parks, making it one of the top cities in the nation in this category.

If you're looking for a place to picnic, to work out, to take a walk or a hike or just “veg out” for a few hours, Denver has your answer.

Many of the Denver City Parks have picnic tables and shelters. Many also have jogging trails, basketball courts, tennis courts, and even recreation centers, Some of the parks feature indoor (or outdoor) swimming pools, soccer fields, baseball fields and playgrounds.

All Denver Parks are open from 5:00 AM until 11:00 PM.

My favorite city parks, not necessarily in any particular order, are:

Washington Park
This park is located at S. Downing St. & E. Louisiana Ave. It is a great park for fitness enthusiasts as it has a recreation center with indoor pool, bicycle/pedestrian pathway, and boating. There is also a crushed granite jogging path, fitness course, fishing, a horseshoe pit, an indoor pool, and lawn bowling/croquet. Washington Park also boasts a soccer field, lighted tennis courts, two playgrounds, four picnic sites, a boathouse pavilion, two lakes, 1/2 basketball court, two major flower gardens, and a youth fishing pond.

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City Park
City Park is located just east of downtown on 17th Ave. and York Street, near the Denver Zoo and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The park has a public golf course, tennis courts, flower gardens, and paddle boat rentals on the lake. Park visitors enjoy summer concerts and the Black Arts Festival. Also located here are the Thatcher and Electric-colored Lake fountains, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue.

Civic Center Park
This park, which is located at Colfax and Broadway, is one of America's top examples of the City Beautiful era of architecture that flourished in the early 1900s. It sports a spacious plaza surrounded by governmental and public buildings and is truly the civic heart of downtown Denver. The State Capitol and the City & County Building are nearby as are the Denver Art Museum, Denver Public Library, Colorado State History Museum, Colorado State Judicial Building, and the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building,

Civic Center Park is the home of Denver's Greek Theater, This theater has been completely restored, with the work completed in 2004 (see photo, below). Civic Center Park also has the McNichols Civic Center Building, the Voorhies Memorial, the Allen Tupper True Murals, the Bronco Buster and On the War Trail Sculptures, as well as acres of trees, flowers and open space.

Bible Park
Bible Park was named after James A. Bible, a Denver Parks employee, supervisor and consultant for more than fifty years. It's a 70 acre park (with 35 acres developed), four skinned softball fields, four football fields, four tennis courts, new playground, basketball court, and multi-use areas. The park also has restrooms and a parking lot and several picnic sites. It offers numerous walking trails and paths and it is bordered by the Cherry Creek Trail and the High Line Canal Trail. It is located at Yale Ave. at Pontiac Street, about 20 minutes southeast of downtown Denver.

Cook Park
The fourth park I like is Cook Park. It is located southeast of the downtown area at S. Monaco St. and and E. Mexico Ave. Cook Park has a recreation center, basketball court, outdoor pool, rugby field, softball field, soccer field, picnic shelter, playground, Goldsmith Gulch, and a permanent restroom structure. There is plenty of room to picnic or just relax.

NOTE: For a map (in PDF format) of all Denver Parks showing exact locations, go tohttp://www.denvergov.org/denvermaps/report.asp?rpt=crec&cat=crec.

While these four parks represent my personal favorites, there are others that are very popular here in Denver that you might want to visit.

Ruby Hill ParkS. Platte River Drive and W. Florida Ave.
Berkeley Park Tennyson St. & W. 46th Ave
Eisenhower Park Colorado Blvd. & E. Dartmouth Ave
Garland Park S. Monaco Pkway. & Cherry Creek Dr. N.
Garland Lake Park S. Lowell Blvd. & W. Mississippi Ave.

Some other parks I like but that are not quite as popular are:

Sloan Lake Park, 17th and Sheridan
Bear Creek Park, S. Raleigh St. & W. Hampden Ave.
Cheesman Park,Franklin St. & 8th St
Confluence Park, at the nexus of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River
Harvard Gulch Park,S. Logan St. & E. Iliff Ave.,
Skyline Park,Central Denver

Note: For information on all Denver City Parks, click on this link: http://www.denvergov.org/Parks/template23689.asp

Denver Mountain Parks

One of Denver's better kept secrets is the city's 24 mountain parks.

The idea for these parks dates back to 1903, when the City and County of Denver began establishing an extensive mountain park and parkway system to function as an extension of the city park system.

Today, the parks total 14,000 acres, or 22 square miles, scattered over an area of 380 square miles.

Thirty-one named parks total 8,632 acres. The remaining acreage is comprised of sixteen unnamed wilderness areas, including 20 mountain tops. Mountain park elevations rise from 5,681 feet above sea level 15 miles west of Denver to a height of 13,001 feet at Summit Lake Park 60 miles west of Denver.

The Denver Mountain Parks include 12 permitted picnic areas (and many more that do not require reservations), shelter houses, 22 miles of roads and 15 miles of emergency access forest roads, parking areas, 16.4 miles of marked hiking trails, two bison herds and one elk herd, and natural, wilderness areas. These parks are actually located in four Colorado Counties: Jefferson, Douglas, Clear Creek, and Grand.

In addition to picnicking and sightseeing, Denver's Mountain Parks offer walking trails, hiking, fishing (in some parks), and attractions such as Buffalo Bill's Grave (Lookout Mountain Park), the Red Rocks Amphitheater (Red Rocks Park), Chief Hosa Lodge and Campground (Chief Hosa Lodge), and Bison and Elk Herds (Genesee and Daniels Parks).

Here is a list of all Denver Mountain Parks. You can get more details as to the location and features of any of these parks by going tohttp://www.denvergov.org/Mountain_Parks/882282template2jump.asp

Bergen Park
Bear Creek Canyon
Beaver Brook Trail
Bell Park
Colorow Point Park
Corwina ParkCub
Creek & Dillon Park
Daniels Park
Dedisse Park
Deer Creek Park
Echo Lake Park
Fillius Park
Forsberg Park
Genesee Park
Katherine Craig Park
Little Park
Lookout Mountain Park
Morrison Park
Newton Park
O'Fallon Park
Pence Park
Red Rocks Park
Summit Lake Park
Turkey Creek Park

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