riverfront park
Gates Crescent Park
Riverbank lawn with a straight-on view of the downtown skyline
A crescent of grass on the west bank of the South Platte, named for the Gates family whose rubber company was a Denver fixture for most of a century. The Children's Museum sits at one end and the greenway trail runs straight through, which makes this a place people stop rather than a place they set out for. There is a viewing platform pointed back at downtown, room to picnic, and enough grass to let a dog run out a lap. Open from five in the morning until eleven at night.
Why go. The best free skyline view on the west side of the river.
Come at dusk, when the skyline lights up and the trail traffic has thinned out.
A short walk from Gates Crescent Park
Children's Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus
$$Hands-on museum for the newborn-to-eight crowd, with a big outdoor Joy Park
LoDo · 2121 Children's Museum Dr
amusement parkElitch Gardens Theme & Water Park
$$$A full amusement park and water park inside the downtown loop
Platte Street & the bridge · 2000 Elitch Cir
NFL stadiumEmpower Field at Mile High
$$$The Broncos' stadium across the river, and the reason LoDo bars open at 9am on Sundays.
A little farther · 1701 Bryant St
Downtown Aquarium
$$$A million gallons of fish, a couple of tigers, and dinner beside a tank
LoDo · 700 Water St
Little Machine Beer
$Jefferson Park brewery with trivia, bingo and a food truck outside
A little farther · 2924 W 20th Ave
Meow Wolf Convergence Station
$$$Four floors of alien-city art in a building wedged between the highway ramps.
Auraria & Ball Arena · 1338 1st St