World Country Guide

Excursions

Located at 1609m (5280ft) above sea level, on high rolling plains at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, Denver, known as the Mile High City, has a population of 500,000 people and is the largest city within a 1000km (625 mile) radius. Founded as a gold-mining camp in 1859, Denver was the centre of the Old West, filled with wagon trains, cowboys, Native Americans, gamblers and gunfighters.
Today, the city is known for its wonderful museums, architecture, cultural facilities and parks. Denver has an invigorating and sunny climate with four distinct seasons and is compact enough to be enjoyed on foot. The Colorado State Capitol, with its spectacular genuine gold roof, enjoys sweeping views over the city and the Rockies. Nearby are the US Mint, with the second-largest storehouse of gold bullion in the USA after Fort Knox in Alaska. The Denver Art Museum, which houses a fine Native American collection, as well as many other exhibits, is currently undergoing a massive expansion project and will double in size by 2006. A new gallery for modern and contemporary art will be a highlight. Other museums in Denver include the Museum of Nature & Science, with a state-of-the-art space exhibition, as well as several interactive exhibits; the Museum of Western Art, with the third-largest collection of Western art in the USA; and the Colorado History Museum, which documents the colourful stories of the Native Americans, cowboys, miners and explorers who have all called Colorado home. Larimer Square, a Victorian block of shops and cafes, is the gateway to the Lower Downtown District of Denver. Also known as LoDo, this area comprises 20 blocks of century-old warehouses and buildings that have been converted to antique shops, galleries, clubs, restaurants and offices. The 16th Street Mall is a tree-lined promenade in the heart of the city, running between downtown Denver and Union Station. Popular with shoppers, it is always alive with pedestrians, cafes, street performers and fountains. Ocean Journey, a maritime theme park in Denver’s Platte River Valley, is located close to the Children’s Museum and the Mile High Stadium.
Those seeking a refuge from the downtown bustle can head for one of Denver’s 205 parks. The City Park is home to the Denver Zoo, City Park Golf Course and the Denver Museum of Natural History, which boasts wildlife art and an IMAX theatre amongst its attractions. The Denver Botanic Gardens comprises water gardens, a Japanese garden, a rock alpine garden and a conservatory housing a collection of orchids and bromeliads. The Centennial Gardens are inspired by the formal gardens of Versailles.
At 2000m (6562ft) above sea level and one hour south of Denver, Colorado Springs is dominated by the red sandstone pinnacles of the Garden of the Gods. Other attractions in or near the city include Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway, with views of the Continental Divide; Manitou Springs; Old Colorado City; Pikes Peak Ghost Town; Royal Gorge Bridge; US Air Force Training Center and the US Olympic Training Centre.
With their powdery snow and sparkling blue skies, the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and the ritzy resort of Aspen in particular, are renowned the world over for unparalleled skiing.
In recent years, the region has gained considerable popularity with European ski enthusiasts as well as visitors from within the USA, and the range of facilities and accommodation is unrivalled. Aspen, located 256km (160 miles) west of Denver, attracts the rich and famous from all over the world and is perhaps America’s most sophisticated ski resort, offering a full range of winter and summer activities and countless restaurants and shops. Vail, two hours west of Denver, is among the top ski destinations in the nation and is built in a Tyrolean style, while Summit County is home to the popular ski resorts of Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, Copper Mountain and Breckenridge.
Other ski resorts in the State include Tiehack/ Buttermilk (popular with beginners), Beaver Creek Resort (suitable for families), Ski Cooper (near the historic city of Leadville), Copper Mountain Resort, Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Cuchara Valley Ski Resort, Eldora Mountain Resort, Howelsen Ski Area (the oldest ski area in Colorado and home to the most complete ski-jumping complex), Keystone Resort (with the longest ski season in the State), Loveland Ski Areas, Monarch, Powderhorn, Wolf Creek, Durango Mountain Resort (an uncrowded ski area in the southwest of the State with the famous Durango–Silverton narrow-gauge steam railway), Silver Creek (affordable family skiing), Snowmass Ski Area, Steamboat (with its nickname Ski Town USA and its distinctly Western heritage), Ski Sunlight (with the world’s largest hot springs pool at Glenwood Springs), Telluride and Winter Park (which is also home to the National Sports Center for the Disabled). All the resorts offer reliable amounts of snow and an extensive range of accommodation and other facilities.
The Colorado Rocky Mountains are home to three spectacular national parks. Located in the high plateau country of southwestern Colorado, the 21,044 hectare (52,000 acre) Mesa Verde National Park is designated as a World Heritage Site and contains some of the largest and most impressive examples of the dramatic Anasazi culture’s cliff dwellings. Built over 700 years ago, these amazing structures have as many as 200 rooms. The park has paved roads offering views over the major ruins. There is a museum that attempts to explain the riddle of why the Native Americans built their villages in caves, and why, by the year 1300, they had completely abandoned the Mesa Verde plateau.
Rocky Mountain National Park is located 104km (65 miles) northwest of Denver, and is Colorado’s most popular attraction. Reaching heights of 3736m (12,183ft), Trail Ridge Road crosses the park and forms one of the highest continuous highways in North America. Massive peaks, rugged canyons, flower-strewn meadows, peaceful lakes and thundering waterfalls combine to offer the visitor over 640km (400 miles) of spectacular wilderness. With its majestic mountain backdrop and picturesque main street, the resort village of Estes Park, on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, is very popular with visitors.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park preserves the most spectacular 19km- (12 mile-) stretch of the 85km (53 mile) gorge carved by the Gunnison River. A paved road circles the rim of the canyon, which at some points is nearly half a mile deep. Colorado National Monument is an area of fantastic red rock canyons, monoliths, pillars and cliffs, while Dinosaur National Monument is a plateau cut by two rivers and is home to one of the world’s richest deposits of dinosaur and reptile fossils. At the eastern edge of the San Luis Valley lies the Great Sand Dunes National Monument, with some of the highest inland sand dunes in North America. Hovenweep National Monument features the ruins of an ancient civilisation, with prehistoric towers, pueblos and cliff dwellings dating back almost 900 years.