Cristiana & Chris
Things To Do
Rocky Mountain National Park
The national park is about a 2 hour drive from Denver. During this time of year you will need a timed permit to get into the park. The permits are available on the first day of the month prior (August 1 for September permits), or the day before you want to visit at 7pm mountain time. There is also a fee to enter the park. Some of our favorite hikes in the park are: - Mills Lake via Glacier Gorge Trail - Nymph, Dream, Emerald, and Haiyaha Lakes via Nymph Lake Trail - Ouzel Falls via Wild Basin Trail - Deer Mountain Trail (Where we got engaged!) More Easily Accessible Areas: - Bear Lake - Sprague Lake - Lily Lake All of these trails can be found on the AllTrails app and/or Google Maps. Even if hiking isn't really your thing, a drive through the park and a visit to some of the easily accessible spots listed above will allow you to get some stunning views of the Rockies and you'll likely get to see some wildlife including deer, elk, moose, marmots, or turkeys.
Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre
Just 20 minutes from the venue, cool place to see or go for a walk, they have a bunch of different walks around the park most of which are fairly easy. If you'd like to go into the amphitheatre itself, just make sure you go early in the day as they close the amphitheatre off to public access early in the afternoon (typically around 2) on most summer days due to their being concerts in the evenings.
Garden of the Gods
About an hour and a half away from the venue. Cool area to walk around and see beautiful red rock formations. You can also look into hiring a guide and doing some outdoor rock climbing here.
Staunton State Park
Just down the street from the venue. This park has a lot of hiking options with varying lengths and difficulties; you can even see our wedding venue from a few of the hikes! There is a $10/day park entrance fee. In addition to hiking you can also do some outdoor rock climbing as well as camping in this park.
Leaf Peeping
This time of year should be great for leaf peeping. There are lots of great places you can try to see the fall colors.
Evergreen Lake
Very pretty place to get lunch. You can also rent row boats, paddleboards, and kayaks there, do some fishing, or even check out a yoga class at the lodge.
Sports Games
Denver is a huge sports town, you can check schedules and go to a Broncos game at Mile High, check out a Rockies game at Coors Field, or a Rapids game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
Coors Brewery Tour
You can tour the home of the Coors Brewery, supposed to be a really cool tour and includes free beer! After the tour you can for a nice walk along the river in Golden and grab some food (and more beer) at Golden Mill.