But even though the Best of Denver is not for beginners, there are some basics that we consider essential to enjoying life in Denver. So in honor of our fortieth-anniversary issue (and avoiding any repetition in the 2024 edition that comes out on Apirl 4), here are forty things that every newcomer to Denver must do.
Before reading the Best of Denver.
Forty Things Every Denver Newcomer Must Do
1. After you land at Denver International Airport, look around for the Martians rumored to live there.2. Stare into the fiery pits of Blucifer's soul and recognize that "Mustang" is not blue because of the Broncos.
3. Run through the fountain in front of Union Station.
4. Visit Confluence Park, where Denver got its start after gold was found there in 1858.
5. Laugh at the holiday display on the steps of the City and County Building...which stays up into late January.
6. Join the Mile High Club without leaving the ground (the Colorado Capitol has convenient markers showing where the altitude is 5280 feet).
7. Walk from the Capitol a few blocks east on Colfax Avenue to get every sight (and smell) that Denver offers.
8. Have a drink at the Satire, where Bob Dylan once sang.
9. Have a shot and get a rose (if you're a lady) at PS Lounge.
10. Eat at Pete's Kitchen at 4 a.m. some Saturday night.
11. Take in the view from the west steps of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
12. Take in the view of the Continental Divide from the Genesee bridge over Interstate 70.
13. See Denver's own bison herd at Genesee Park.
14. Watch the Stock Show Parade in January.
15. Shop at Rockmount Ranch Wear.
16. Catch a sunrise at Red Rocks, then return for a show.
17. Walk all 71 miles of the High Line Canal.
18. Kayak on the South Platte River.
19. Tube in Boulder Creek.
20. Pedal a swan around Ferril Lake.
21. Ice skate on Evergreen Lake.
22. Climb the Manitou Incline.
23. Eat a doughnut (they're famous) at the top of Pikes Peak.
24. Party in the A-basin parking lot (while you can).
25. Bike through Mount Falcon Park.
26. Sing John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" at a karaoke night and get booed off the stage.
27. Join the crowd at First Friday in Denver's Art District on Santa Fe Drive.
28. Visit the Clyfford Still Museum, and wonder how the hell Denver became home to this great collection.
29. Sit in the Rockpile at Coors Field.
30. Tailgate before a Denver Broncos game.
31. Drink craft beer at the Wynkoop Brewing Co., Denver's first brewpub (now-Senator John Hickenlooper was a co-founder).
32. Go on the Coors Brewery tour.
33. Get Mexican or Asian food on South Federal Boulevard.
34. Eat some wild game at the Buckhorn Exchange while sitting under your entree's taxidermied ancestor.
35. Have a burger at My Brother's Bar.
36. Have a crispy chile relleno at La Fiesta.
37. Have a sugar steak at Bastien's.
38. Have a martini at the Cruise Room,
39. Read the graffiti in the City, O' City bathrooms.
40. Burn one at Civic Center Park (on 4/20 or not).
And now for the Rest of the Best of Denver
For 360 other things every person in Denver must do, see the 2024 Best of Denver issue, which hits the streets and the web on April 4.After you're done reading it, send us your suggestions for must-do things in Denver.
In the meantime, here's one more: Become a member of Westword, and support local journalism — as well as future issues of the Best of Denver. Find out how to become a member here.
