Denver, Colorado Free to Low Cost Vacation Attractions

As if being in the Rocky Mountains isn't enough, there are many fun, free vacation attractions for families to do when visiting or vacationing in Denver Colorado. Sitting at the foot of the Rockies, Denver offers vacationers breathtaking scenery, crisp, clean air and a quick trip to hear babbling streams. Continue reading this article to find out what Denver has to offer in terms of attractions for a family on a budget.

Coors/Miller Brewery

Yes, you did read this right. The Coors Brewery was renamed the Coors/Miller Brewery in 2008 and they continue to offer informative tours to the public. Beside a name change, the Coors/Miller brewery has also added self-guided audio tours. Tourists who are over 21 years of age get up to 3 free samples of Coors/Miller products. If you are under 21, there are complimentary soft drinks.

Over 250,000 people tour the Coors/Miller Brewery each year so know that there may be a wait and the rule is "first come, first served". The self-guided tour takes you through the basic steps of brewing beer and since it is self-guided, you can pace your tour to meet your needs. The tour typically takes about 35 minutes.

Cheesman Park

Are you and your family up for a bit of a thrill with ghost hunting as the objective? If you said yes, then Cheesman Park needs to be on your "Must Do" list. The Parks' legacy of horror is based on the fact that it was built over the desecration of the old City Cemetery during a dark time in the history of Denver. YIKES, if that isn't enough to raise the dead, I don't know what is.

As Denver society flourished, the Old Cemetery was let to go to rack and ruin and it became the last resting place of paupers, criminals, transients and unclaimed smallpox and typhus victims. To make a long story short, families of persons buried in the cemetery were asked to move the remains of their family members(s) to other cemeteries within 90 days so the land could be made into a park. Some families did move their loved ones remains yet -over 5,000 bodies were not moved and these remains were uprooted when the excavation started. It is the souls of those who were excavated that are said to haunt the park grounds. You might want to check this out to see if you see any ghosts.

Colorado State Capitol

It is always fun to tour state capitols and many families try to make it to all contiguous state capitols as a game. Visiting the Denver state capitol is a great family experience and if you are playing the state capitol game, you get to check off one more state. As you enter the State Capitol building you can request a free tour. YEA! Be sure and take notice that when you have climbed up the stairs to the outside entrance of the capitol, you are one (1) mile above sea level. If your ears haven't popped already, they may start popping at the capitol. Be sure and ask your tour guide to tell you about the gold-leaf dome of the capitol

Dinosaur Ridge, at Morrison Colorado

Although this attraction is not in Denver proper, it is less than an hour drive and the drive will be well worth your time. Dinosaur Ridge is free to go through and it offers a view of fossils of dinosaurs. Now, what kid does not have an interest in dinosaurs? It is free to walk through the attraction but if you spend $2.00 you can get a self-guide to help you know what you are looking at as you walk through and see prehistoric dinosaur prints and remains. Check out this website for more information. http://www.dinoridge.org/

Bluff Lake Nature Center In east Denver you will find the Bluff Lake Nature Center which is a unique urban wild-life refuge. Check out this website - http://www.blufflakenaturecenter.org/firesidechats08.htm - to see what is happening at the Nature Center at the time you will be visiting.

One neat activity they offer is called Fireside Chats. During these chats, visitors sit around a campfire and roast marshmallows while learning about the animals and the Centers' ecosystem. While sitting around the fire, guests are able to see nocturnal animals come to life. If you choose to attend a Fireside Chat, be ready to pay $1.00/person to cover costs of marshmallows etc.

16th Street Mall In a 2007 rating, the 16^th Street Mall ranked #2 in Denver metro area tourist attractions. This ought to be a good enough recommendation to put the 16^th Street Mall on your Denver itinerary. Typically, getting around a metro area is quite wearisome with all of the vehicular traffic. Not so with the 16^th Street Mall as it offers the FREE MALL Ride. This shuttle runs about every 2 minutes starting as early as 5:00 A.M. It closes around 1:30 in the morning so you can stay at the Mall quite as late as most families want. Shopping and eating are some of the major attractions of the Mall but for a complete listing of Mall activities, visit this site - http://www.experiencedowntowndenver.com/.

Denver is referred to as The Mile High City so be sure if you are visiting Colorado that you visit the city that is a mile above sea level even if just to say you did. A better reason to visit Denver, though, is that it has lots of free to low cost attractions for families.