Denver - City and Rocky Mountain Parks

Making good use of the fantastic weather today (forecast for next few days - rain and low temperature), I joined a guided full day tour of Denver city and its surrounding mountain parks.

The tour started at 8:20am Denver time (10:30pm Singapore time) with only 4 people in the tour. It was a small cosy group and we were able to interact with each other. :) Our guide first brought us round Race Street, a residential area in Cherry Creek to look at the houses there which were built in various time periods from late 1800s to 2010. He also showed us Victorian mansions of "unsinkable Molly Brown" and others as well as the native plants of Colorado. We passed cultural attractions such as Civic Center Park, the gold-domed State Capitol, the United States Mint, the Denver Art Museum, Coors Field Stadium,, City and County Building, Union Station, Invesco Field, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and others. As it was a small group, the guide was able to arrange a few additional extras for us. He brought us to see the stained glass windows in the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception. The stained glass windows were beautiful in their details and colours. We also toured the State Capitol and went up to the dome! The view from the dome was fantastic. We attended Senate sessions too lol. We were dropped at Cherry Creek Shopping Centre for lunch and to wait for the afternoon part of the tour that started at 1:20pm.

Molly Brown House

Me at Molly Brown House

Catherdral of Immaculate Conception


Colorado State Capitol

Interior View of State Capitol Dome

Interior of State Capitol

Buildings and scenery as seen from the dome of the State Capitol




Senate in session



Denver = 1 mile above sea level




Again, the afternoon tour was a small group of 7 people. We first went to Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. The view is spectacular. :) Next, we went to visit the Buffalo Bill Cody Grave Site and Museum at Lookout Mountain. We could see the snow-covered caps of Rocky Mountains in the distance that just takes the breath away. We also journeyed up to Bear Creek Canyon, the peaceful home to wildlife, such as elk, deer and buffalo. Somehow the wildlife was hiding from us and we couldn't see any. :( Our tour guide was most nice. He deviated from the usual course and drove us as high up as 10000 ft, hoping for us to catch a glimpse of the wildlife. We finally did! We saw buffaloes and they are huge! We also saw patches of snow on our way up the mountain. :)

Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre




At Lookout Mountain where Buffalo Bill Museum & Grave is situated



Buffalo Bill Museum

Snow! Patches of snow not melted

More snow!! Care for a snowball? :)


I was dropped off near my accommodation, around 5:30pm. Soon after, my colleague, Luis who arrived in Denver in the afternoon contacted me. We met at Colorado Convention Centre before going for dinner at Rialto Cafe on 16th Street Mall. We both ordered the Oven Roasted Chicken (US13.99): half a roasted chicken with macaroni and cheese. The chicken was really tender and delicious. After dinner, we walked for a while along 16th Street taking some photos before parting ways.

The Blue Bear at Colorado Convention Centre





It has been a long day for me but I really enjoyed myself very much. :)