The Top 10 Free Denver Attractions

Here in Denver, gas prices are on the rise, heating bills are high, and feeding a family costs more and more everyday. Unfortunately, with so many priorities digging into our wallets, it is hard to make room for entertainment and enjoyment. Luckily, Denver has several free and entertaining attractions that can help ease the burden of high prices.

Regardless of your interests, there is something to do in Denver for free. With so much going on, you only have to focus on finding time to do it all - not how to pay for it.

Top 10 Free Denver Attractions.

10: Attraction: SCFD Free Days
Location: Various
Target Audience: Families, Art Fans, and Nature Buffs

At the top of the list of free Denver attractions are the Denver Cultural Facilities. Nearly all of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) attractions feature free days throughout the year. You can visit several of these nationally renowned and award winning Denver Attractions for absolutely nothing.

The SCFD attractions that host free days include The Denver Zoo, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Art Museum, and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Depending on the size of your family and the attraction, the free days could save you hundreds of dollars. For a current schedule of free admission days, visit the attraction's website or call the attraction's customer service number.

Denver Zoo: (303) 376-4800
Denver Botanic Gardens: (720) 865-3500
Denver Museum of Nature & Science: (303) 370-6400
Denver Art Museum: (720) 865-5000

9. Attraction: Colorado State Capitol Building
Location: 200 E Colfax Ave., Denver, CO - (303) 866-2604‎
Target Audience: Families, History buffs, Architecture Enthusiasts

The Colorado State Capitol Building is one of the most beautiful and iconic buildings in downtown Denver, and it is open to tours year around. Not only are the tours free, but they are educational and the view from inside of the famous "golden dome" is breathtaking.

The Capitol Building, which was built in 1890, stands tall over the downtown area and offers a glimpse of both the history of Colorado and the mountains of the Colorado Front Range. If you are looking to take a tour, the Capitol Building is open to the public Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It is recommended that you visit early in the day before the large tour groups arrive.

8. Attraction: City Park
Location: 23rd Ave. and York Street - Denver Colorado
Target Audience: Families, Sports Enthusiasts, Nature Buffs

Denver has hundreds of parks and thousands of acres of open space, and all of them are free. City Park stands out as one of Denver's greatest free attractions. Featuring over 300 acres, three lakes and multiple playgrounds, Denver's City Park offers a family or outdoor enthusiast unlimited entertainment.

In addition to the lakes and open space, City Park also has tennis and basketball courts, baseball, soccer, and lacrosse fields, multiple pavilions, a boat house, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Monument. If you are looking for a place to play hard and have fun. Denver's City Park has something for you.

7. Attraction: The United States Mint
Location: 320 West Colfax Ave., Denver, Colorado (303) 405-4761
Target Audience: History buffs, Families, People interested in a once in a lifetime experience.

The Denver Mint is one of six facilities responsible for the production of all of our money. The process of minting, from start to finish, is a pretty remarkable process. Even if you are not normally into tours or history, there is something awe-inspiring about witnessing millions of dollars being produced right in front of your eyes.

The Denver Mint offers tours from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday (excluding federal holidays). All of the Mint tours are completely free. You may make reservations up to two months in advance, and reservations are recommended do to the limited nature and number of tours.

6. Attraction: The Cherry Creek Mall - Play Area for kids
Location: 3000 E 1st Ave. # 1118, Denver, CO 80206 (303) 316-8182
Target Audience: Kids and Families

Located inside the Cherry Creek Mall, there is a free attraction that the kids go crazy for. This Looney Tunes-inspired indoor play-place has your kids favorite cartoon characters. It is open year-round and holds the same hours as the mall.

5. Attraction: Dinosaur Ridge
Location: 16831 W. Alameda Pkwy, Morrison, CO 80465
Target Audience: Families, paleontologists, and young dinosaur hunters.

Located about 30 minutes from Downtown Denver is the Dinosaur Ridge site. Complete with self-guided and guided tours, the Dinosaur Ridge education center allows visitors to journey millions of years back in history to a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth. At Dinosaur Ridge, some of the best known and most famous dinosaur fossil discoveries were made, and more are being made daily.

When you visit Dinosaur Ridge, you can actually see dinosaur footprints fossilized in stone, as well as several thousand other fascinating fossil finds. Dinosaur ridge is open year around from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. for tours and visitations.

4. Attraction: Celestial Seasonings Tour and Tea Shop
Location: 4600 Sleepytime Dr, Boulder, CO 80301
Target Audience: Tea Fans, Families, tour enthusiasts

Celestial Seasonings makes and markets several tasty herbal and traditional teas, and you can tour their facilities and see how it is all done. This free attraction introduces Celestial Seasonings with a short video presentation, and then walks you through the factory. You get to see everything including the mixing, packaging, and preparing of their teas. Be prepared for the mint storage room. You have not experienced intense mint until you have stepped into a room filled with tons (literally) of peppermint.

The best part of the tour is the free tea samples. You can taste any of their numerous flavors of tea for free at the tea. The helpful tour guides will also ask any questions about the process and product of tea making. Tours are available hourly - seven days a week. For a complete tour schedule call (303)581-1202.

3. Attraction: Pearl Street Mall
Location: Pearl Street and Broadway, Boulder, CO 80301
Target Audience: Buscar fans, families, window shoppers

Located about 30 minutes from Denver, Boulder has one of the most beautiful locations of any city in the United States. It is nestled in the base of the Flat Irons of the Rocky Mountains and has amazing open space, trails, and parks. But, if you are in Boulder and looking for the definitive free attraction, you should visit the Pearl Street Mall.

At the mall, you will see dozens of free shows by street performers, people of all ages and backgrounds, and you will be able to window shop at the widest variety of stores you can imagine. The Pearl street mall is as unique experience as some of the outdoor malls in science fiction movies. You will find something that intrigues you, something you want, and maybe even something that shocks you just a little bit.

2. Attraction: 16th Street Mall
Location: 16th Street and Glenarm- Denver, CO, 80202
Target Audience: families, Window Shoppers, People Watchers

For an outdoor mall with a completely different feel than the Pearl Street mall, visit the 16th Street Mall. The 16th Street Mall in Denver has a modern and metropolitan flair. This free attraction in downtown Denver will let you tour the Denver Center for Performing Arts, the famous D & F Clock-tower Building, and Union Station. You can also window shop at upscale boutiques as well as dine at the Denver Hard Rock, or Wolfgang Puck Restaurants.

1. Attraction: Coors Tour
Location: 13th and Ford Streets, Golden, CO 80401
Target Audience: Beer fans, tour enthusiasts

The MillerCoors tour in Golden Colorado is only a few minutes from Denver and lets you peek into the process of beer making on a grand scale. You can also get a glimpse of the Coors Company and the history of beer. For many however, the best part of the tour is the free samples. That's right, at the conclusion of the factory tour, adults can sample up to 3 different Coors products.

The MillerCoors tour is completely self guided and available 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday - Thursday and noon - 4:00 on Sundays.