Meandering through the Mile-High City

Denver is located on high rolling plains, 12 miles east of the “foothills,” a series of gentle mountains that climb to 11,000 feet. Just beyond is the “Front Range of the Rocky Mountains,” a series of formidable snowcapped peaks that rise to 14,000 feet. Denver might not be in the mountains, but the mountains still dominate the city. The picturesque mountain panorama from Denver is 140 miles long.

There are 200 visible named peaks including 32 that soar to 13,000 feet and above. State law prohibits building any structure that would block the view from the Colorado State Capitol. Penetrating the mountains west of Denver required building the highest auto tunnel in the world (Eisenhower Tunnel) and the sixth longest railroad tunnel in the country (Moffat Tunnel).

Denver brews more beer than any other city. The first building in Denver was a saloon, so it’s natural that Denver would become a great beer town. Coors Brewery is the world’s largest. Denver’s Great American Beer Festival is the largest in the nation, with 1,700 different beers. The Wynkoop Brewing Company is one of the largest brewpubs in the country. On an average day, Denver brews more than 80 different beers.

Why is Denver the “Napa Valley of Beer”? Well, just as the water tumbling down from the Scottish Highlands has made Scotland a renowned center for whiskey, the great taste of Rocky Mountain spring water provides a key basic ingredient for the city’s booming beer brewing industry.

Denver’s history is short, but colorful. In 1858, there was not a single person living in the Denver metro area except for some migrating camps of Arapaho and Cheyenne Native Americans. Just 30 years later, Colorado was a state with a population of almost 200,000. It was a Gold Rush that caused this boom and in a 30 to 40 year period Denver saw some of the wildest events in the “Wild West.” This fascinating period is brought to life at museums, old gold mining towns and in hundreds of elegant Victorian buildings. LoDo, a 26 square block historic district, has the largest concentration of Victorian and turn-of-the-century buildings in the country. Today, LoDo is home to 90 brewpubs, jazz cafes, restaurants, sports bars and nightclubs.

Denver’s arts and cultural scene is thriving. In its Old West days, Denver had a performance of Macbeth before it had a school or a hospital. That performance took place in a saloon. Today, Metro Denver collects more for the arts on a per capita basis than any other city. The seven county Denver metro area has a self-imposed 10th of a cent sales tax for the arts that raises up to $36 million a year, which is distributed to 300 arts organizations and facilities.

The city’s cultural renaissance can be found in places like the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Covering four square blocks, the complex is the second largest in the country, with 10 theatres seating more than 10,000 people for opera, symphony, ballet, Tony Award-winning theatre and touring Broadway shows. The new $92 million Ellie Caulkins Opera House is recognized as one of the finest acoustical venues in the world.

The Frederic C. Hamilton Building at the Denver Art Museum opened on Oct. 7, 2006, doubling the size of the facility. It was designed by world renowned architect, Daniel Libeskind. Libeskind is known for his design of the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the War Museum in Manchester, England and is the master planner for the new World Trade Center space in New York City. The Hamilton Building is Libeskind’s first building in America.

Denver has the 10th largest downtown in the United States. Unlike some Western cities, Denver has a definitive, exciting and walkable downtown – the 10^th largest in the nation. Within just a one mile radius, there are three sports stadiums, the country’s second largest performing arts complex, an assortment of art and history museums, a mint producing 10 billion coins a year, a river offering whitewater rafting, the country’s only downtown amusement park, a new world-class aquarium, more than 7,400 hotel rooms and more than 300 restaurants, brewpubs and music clubs.

If you would rather be shopping, Denver is the largest shopping destination in a 600-mile radius. Just three miles from downtown, the Cherry Creek Shopping District tempts locals and visitors alike with hundreds of boutiques, galleries, stores and restaurants.

Denver has the largest city park system in the country. Denver has more than 200 parks within the city and 20,000 acres of parks in the nearby mountains, including spectacular Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The city has its own buffalo herd located in the mountains with a panoramic view. Other mountain parks include Echo Lake, at the base of the Mount Evans highway – the highest road in North America and Buffalo Bill’s Grave on top of Lookout Mountain. Denver plants more than 200,000 flowers in 26 formal flower gardens every spring.

There are more than 800 miles of off-street bike paths, 90 golf courses and one of the nation’s largest urban trail systems. Due to all of these recreational opportunities, a federal study found that Denver has the thinnest residents of any major U.S. city.

Within a 1-2 hour drive, you can also take a day trip to the mountains and experience crisp mountain air and invigorating scenery while skiing at world-class resorts, hiking, horseback riding, fly fishing, whitewater rafting and mountain climbing and still be back in time to hit the town’s nightlife scene.

Courtesy of  denver.org