Best Dog Paradise 2002 | Dog training areaCherry Creek State Park | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Dog Paradise

Dog training area
Cherry Creek State Park

Fido's still a puppy, but you've got shin splints to spare, and the idea of giving him a good run every day tires you out just thinking about it. Certain "leash free" zones in and around the metro area are the answer, where you can let your dog scamper about unencumbered while you bask in the warm sunshine on the sidelines. The best one by far is on the southeast corner of Cherry Creek State Park, just a few paws east of Parker Road and north of Orchard. Your dog-friendly pup can romp and play with other dogs in the large, enclosed field. Dogs can also swim and cool themselves off in the many pools in the "dog training area." On sunny days, there are sometimes more than sixty dogs using the large space, with children playing beneath a shade tree and doggie parents conversing. For more information, you can bark up the Cherry Creek State Park Web site, www.parks.state.co.us/cherry_creek.

Best Cheap Sunset to Share With Dogs

City of Kunming Park

Situated on a hillside at the edge of a tangle of park lands that also includes Rosedale and Harvard Gulch parks, this block-square parcel doesn't really qualify as wide-open space, though lots of people do bring their dogs here to chase Frisbees and each other in the late afternoons of summer. But all you have to do once you arrive is sit down. Or stand. Or roll over. The sky takes care of the rest, and the spectacular mountain view, framed by trees and houses, doesn't hurt, either. Ooh. Aah. Ruff!

Best Cheap Skate

Denver Skatepark
Commons Park

Dude! There is nothing cheaper than free, and free is one concept that truly befits the sport of skateboarding, which, at its best, has no rules. That's exactly how things work at this city-built facility, whose smooth expanses of concrete bowls and ramps were opened to the public last summer. The fruits of a project spearheaded by city councilwoman Joyce Foster and a bunch of restless skateboard kids who had been ousted from the 16th Street Mall in the name of progress, the approximately 60,000-square-foot park is touted to be the largest free paradise of its kind in the nation. Equally expansive are its 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily operating hours. Helmets are not required, so grind at your own risk!

Best Cheap Racquet Repair

Centennial Tennis Club/Holly Tennis Center

South Suburban Parks and Recreation caters to its target clientele of racquet-swinging suburbanites by offering fine outdoor and indoor ball-whacking havens. But these public facilities -- for sun-lovers, the Holly Tennis Center, and for year-round fun, the Centennial Tennis Club, a winterized tennis bubble -- also ensure one-stop sport experiences by operating on-premises pro shops with reasonably priced racquet-repair services, including restringing and regripping. Bring your own string and it's even cheaper.

Best Place to Rent a Bocce Set

Butler Rents

Your relatives are coming in from the Old Country, and you want to show them that you carry on some of the old traditions -- except you haven't seen your bocce set in years. Don't panic: Butler Rents stocks one set of the famous lawn game and will rent it out for a weekend. Instructions are included, too, just in case your arguments get heated. But you'll have to supply the Chianti and patch of grass.

Best Suburban Recreation Center

Apex Center

An incredible site, the Apex Center features a huge swimming area complete with water slides, hot tubs and a clubhouse-like "pump station" that sprays water from every conceivable angle. There's also an excellent ice rink, workout areas, weight rooms and an enormous climbing wall, plus a place to get food so people who've just worked off lots of calories can replenish them again.

Best Gifts for Suburban Jocks

South Suburban Parks and Recreation District gift certificates

Think of recreation as a commodity: Leisure time is one of life's luxuries that everyone wants and needs in our modern buzz-saw world. South Suburban makes it easy to give the gift of game by offering gift certificates in any denomination, redeemable (and available) at any district recreation facility for whatever activity the recipient chooses, be it dance lessons, pottery classes, lap time in the pool, a round of mini-golf or a spot in a spring softball league.

Best Display of Hot Air

Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival
Chatfield State Park

Although it's not on the scale of Albuquerque's justly famous balloon extravaganza, the Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival, which took place last year in late August, is turning into an annual blast. The balloons at the 2001 event ranged from corporate tie-ins (Tony the Tiger, the Energizer Bunny) to generic but still vibrant models that early risers could see up close and personal for the cost of entrance to the park. And they can be viewed from miles around for free: C-470 near Wadsworth was lined with looky-loos parked on the highway's shoulder. This year's version is scheduled to take place August 23-25. Up, up and away!

Best Place for Children of the Corn

Chatfield Corn Maze
Chatfield Nature Preserve

The giant corn maze at Chatfield Nature Preserve, which is open from Labor Day until October 31, is a great way to get temporarily lost. Thanks to clues located at strategic spots on the five-acre site, most people will be able to find their way out in about twenty minutes. But as soon as they reach the exit, kids will be ready to go right back in again -- especially during the big Halloween finale, when the maze is haunted by scary (but not too scary) creatures.

Best Hayrides and Slay-Rides

Stockton's Plum Creek Stables

Stockton's is close enough to the city to be accessible, but far enough out to seem like it's in the country. Visitors can ride horses or go on hayrides through some beautiful scenery. Also, part of the property is an indoor arena perfect for staging large-scale events with a Western theme -- and each Halloween, the place features Haunted Hayrides complete with professional storytellers and a haunted maze.

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