Denver, CO

[LonghornNation11]

I am flying to Denver in mid-July for a few days. Any recommendations on places to go and/or eat? Any suggestions on things to do in the summer? I am planning on doing some water rafting.

 

[CottonEyedHorn]

We visit friends every now and again up there. I'd recommend at least doing the Coors Brewery tour and having lunch or dinner somewhere downtown on the 16th Street Mall (like Rock Bottom Brewery). It's a pedestrian-only stretch of downtown with shops and restaurants. Check out Red Rock Amphitheater too, that's pretty cool. Not sure what to recommend during the summer months though.

 

[HornMafia]

My girlfriend lived there for nearly two years...her recommendations include:

--Coors Brewery
--16th Street Mall is great
--Downtown district is right near Coors Field, can drink a few beers and walk to the game
--Restaurants: Wynkoop Brewing Co, Saucy Noodle on University

Just enjoy the weather. Might be warm during the day but will cool down at night.

 

[threesheets]

Denver Chophouse is great.
Lucky Strike Lanes (I kid you not) is badass.

 

[Mrmyke709]

Denver to Buena Vista is only 2-3 hours away. We ran the Brown's Canyon stretch of the Arkansas River with these guys..Arkansas Valley Adventures.

The scenery was incredible, and the river is always around 8-900 CFS in the Summer, so it was a hell of a ride.

 

[CO Horn]

If you want to do a brewery tour, I would recommend taking a tour of one of the microbreweries (New Belgium, Odells, Lefthand, Boulder Beer etc.). These breweries are 30-90 minutes from Denver.

The water should be flowing this year with all the snow the mountains received.

 

[Ankf00]

Wynkoop has good food, but the beers aren't that great. Do as CO Horn recommends, no shortage of quality microbreweries to tour. New Belgium in Ft. Collins isn't too far away, Odell's up that way as well. Boulder Beer and Avery in Boulder, Oskar Blues in Lyons, Lefthand Brewery in Longmont.

Catch a Rockies game in the afternoon and hit up the adjacent entertainment district at night, plenty of restaurants & bars. Falling Rock Tap House is a few blocks south of Coors Field, an ale house with an excellent assortment of brews, many of which you can't get in Texas. And the owner is a Texas Ex too, class of '89, he has a rose bowl football on display too

The Buena Vista idea is solid, rent a room out there, raft one day, rent a 6" suspension mountain bike the next day and do shuttle runs down Monarch Crest right in that same area down in Salida. Get Yeti 575 from these guys: The Link you will thank me later. Friends from home visited last month and used the same outfitters MrMyke used, they loved it as well.

Royal Gorge at Estes Park isn't a long drive out either...

Come up to Boulder, find a golden retriever, throw it on the grill for old time's sake.

 

[HornInDub]

The royal gorge is nowhere near Estes Park, its near Canon City - The Link

I've been rafting once near the Royal Gorge on the Arkansas River (our rafting trip actually went through the royal gorge) but I don't remember the tour company.

Estes Park is a great city, right at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, which has some amazing scenery.

Lots of hiking opportunities, obviously, both near Denver and further out.

You can drive to the top of some of the highest peaks in Colorado if you don't want to hike - Pike's Peak near Colorado Springs and Mt. Evans near Idaho Springs (close to Denver) both have roads up to the top with spectacular views.

There are also some great drives through the mountains, like the "Oh My God" Road near Idaho Springs, the road over independence pass near Aspen, and the drive to the bottom of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

If you want to go out a little further, you can go see the Great Sand Dunes National Park, which I think is pretty impressive. You could also make your way to Durango and drive the state highway550, visiting Ouray and the area down there.

You can also get on some jeep tours of some of the famous off-road trails, like Black Bear Pass and Imogene Pass, which would have some incredible scenery.

 

[LonghornNation11]

Thank you for all the responses.

 

[Ankf00]

Also, if you make it up to Boulder for brewery visits, Avery has a free tasting room where you can try all their bottled beers on tap, and a **** ton of draughts they don't bottle. Most are big beers, 8%+ ABV, it's allsome

The Link

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[MrX]

You may also think about a day in Summit County:

Keystone, Breckenridge, Vail/Beaver Creek, and Frisco/Dillon are all within 30-45 minutes of each other and have everything you could want- golf, food, recreation, and breweries.

Steamboat is quite a drive from Denver (2.5 hours) but that town is awesome

 

[Damor]

I don't know if you are a big beer guy, but you've gotten a lot of great beer advice.

Add to that a visit to the Great Divide Brewery. It's right in downtown Denver (on Arapaho) so it's a really easy visit. They are a pretty small operation and are only open M-F weekdays, but the guys there are a lot of fun. The whole "tour" is really informal (and may be just you and some random employees), and the "sample room" is as well - no silly tokens, the samples are about, oh, the size of a pint, and you can "resample" all you like with the employees at the end of the workday.

 

[SMUDeac]

I was just in Denver for a conference last week. The 16th Street mall is interesting. Very eclectic. Good place to people watch.

Went to the Chophouse. It was pretty good. Not great, but pretty good.

Also went to, and highly recommend, Rioja. It's just off of 16th Street. The food was excellent, and the service was very good. I don't drink but was told the drinks are very good.

 

[threesheets]

Forgot to mention a couple of awesome breakfast spots in downtown Denver- Sam's #3 and Zaidy's Deli.