My family joined me for Thanksgiving, and hosting fell into my lap. My sister and brother-in-law from Maine and my mother from Florida arrived with a week of “What are we doing today in Denver?”
We are not a family who likes the traditional and expected, so I didn’t recommend Denver Zoo, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, movies, malls or typical things families do. The pressure was on for me to show them a good time doing things in Denver that cost nothing or next to nothing. I was able to entertain them for a week, and the only things we paid for were food. Here are 15 weird things to do in Denver that are mostly free. Our weather varied from 10 degrees to 60!
A Golden Time at Coors Beer
- Coors tour. My sister and brother-in-law arrived first at 2:30 to the Denver airport on Monday of Thanksgiving week. Knowing that Coors does not do tours on the remaining days of Thanksgiving week, we hot-footed it out to Golden to make the last tour by 4:00.
This is a cute, self-guided tour that ends in the tasting room where adults can get up to 3 free pulls of whatever Coors flavor they’re brewing. Try the Batch 19, which is hard to find and the best on tap that they have. The tour takes about 45 minutes. Be sure to check their schedules and book your tickets in advance. There are two tour prices, $10 and $25.
Union Station Lighting in Denver
2. After we finished the tour, the bro wanted to get a bison burger. The best place in town is Hopdoddy, which conveniently is next to Union Station. The Friday after Thanksgiving is when they light up Union Station, but on Monday is when they practice lighting it.
3. So, we decided to benefit twice for one effort. We had the best bison burger in town with green chili fries and sea salt caramel shakes while watching them practice lighting up Union Station without the crowds.
For the vegan’s in the house like me, I grabbed vegan El Bandito with some truffle fries.
Walking and Hiking in Denver
4. Denver has some of the best urban hiking around. It’s almost always a flat walk and often near a river, think Platte River Trail, Cherry Creek Trail, Sand Creek Greenway or even the High Line Canal Trail. The best hike is to start at REI Denver (which is closed on Friday after Thanksgiving #optoutside), and head north on the Platte River.
Depending on how far you want to walk, pick a bridge to cross over. You can walk as far north as the Sand Creek Greenway if you’d like. Turn south and parallel yourself back toward REI. At Confluence Park, take a left and walk along the Cherry Creek for as far as you want (maybe all the way to the High LIne Canal?) and then turn around to head back to REI. Along the way, you’ll see great murals, fun people, kayakers, walkers, runners, strollers, scooters, and maybe a river otter? For more info about hiking in Denver, check out the best site for hiking in Denver, DenverByFoot.com
Seeing Bison in Denver
5. Go drive the bison drive or go for a hike in very nearby Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge. Between the airport and downtown, you’ll find bison and ferrets at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge. Luck was with us–and the bison appeared ten feet from us on the road. There are four other places to hike with bison in Denver. See them here.
6. Next, my brother-in-law is a huge Patriots fan, and with the Broncos hosting the Pats this upcoming Sunday, we ventured to Empire Field Stadium at Mile High Field and took a great shot of my sister and him in front of the Broncos vs. Patriots sign. The weather started to turn, but it didn’t stop us from parking at the 4-block area of the Crush to see the amazing street art of internationally famed grafitti’ists. You can tour the stadium; just make sure you plan in advance.
7. If you’re hungry, make sure to grab a yummy caprese sandwich and chips at Central Market while walking through the amazing graffitti in the RiNo area of Denver.
8. On the way back home, we couldn’t resist a stop at VooDoo Donuts to snag a sugar high.
9. Finally, we had to stop by the Mile High Harley Davidson to ooh and ahh over the bikes and for the bro to pick up his local t-shirt.
Exhausted, we settled into a big pot of vegetarian chili for the night.
Street Art in Denver
Thursday we did nothing but bake, cook, and eat.
10. Friday greeted us with our second day of snow and 20 degree temperatures. I zipped the sis and bro up to the airport for an early morning flight. With them safely on the way home, mom insisted on the next free activity! Inspired by REI’s OptOutside movement, we walked from Cheesman Park to Wash Park for a 3 mile amble.
11. Needing to defrost a bit, we drove over to the free day at Clyfford Still Museum to learn about this great American abstract painter.
12. Since mom had missed the practice lighting of Union Station, and the thought of sitting down to a good meal couldn’t escape our minds, we journeyed over to The Kitchen Next Door for some great Fish and Chips and Bangers and Mash and to catch the Grand Illumination of Union Station.
Drinking in Denver
13. Saturday continued with snow, but we still wanted to get out and about. Being Small Business Saturday gave us a great excuse to meander the cute shops of downtown Arvada. I couldn’t resist buying my daughter a poster and me a few spices. Lunch of a smoked salmon Eggs Benedict went down nicely from Bread Winner.
14. Then we were off to another free tour, but this time it was Stranahan’s Whiskey (as of 2025, they now charge a cover for the tour). I’ve been to many liquor tours, but this one was informative, funny, and engaging. A huge shout out to tour guide Lexi for her personality and enthusiasm!
15. On the way home, we stopped at Civic Center Park to see the lighting of the Mile High Tree. It’s fun to walk inside of it and catch a picture looking up.
There you have it. unusual things to do in Denver that are mostly free. Actually, I bellied up about 15 free things to do in Denver if you can’t the other things I didn’t count within this article! I hope you enjoy. Be sure to tell folks I sent you and please feel free to share this post.
Chris Englert, the Walking Traveler, believes walking is the platform for life. Wanderlusting since the age of 5, she’s since traveled all 50 US states and 62 countries. Chris shares her love of walking while traveling via blogs, books, and presentations. A natural storyteller, she invites you along as she explores the world, one walk at a time.
Currently, Chris and her husband, Steve, travel the world, full-time as nomads, with just their two carry-ons. They’ve been traveling since May, 2021.