6 Under-Appreciated State Parks Near Denver You're Sure To Love

What are the best parks in Denver?  

Denver is a beautiful city with plenty of fun, scenic, or otherwise lovely parks. Many of them are absolutely perfect for families, which contributes to their popularity. For example, there’s the legendary Washington Park, which serves as a centerpiece-of-sorts for one of Denver’s most sought-after neighborhoods. It’s a great place to gather, celebrate, and play, and it’s quite popular for birthday parties and fun in the sun (and when the time calls for it, fun in the snow). City Park is absolutely wonderful, with a pleasant mix of open areas and woodsy ones, plus plenty of benches to sit and reflect. Sloan’s Lake Park is a blast thanks to, well, the lake, and we also really love Civic Center Park, albeit for different reasons. Civic Center Park is more of a concrete jungle type of park, but trust us when we say it’s absolutely worth a visit.  

What are some nice hiking trails in Denver?  

Denver has plenty of lovely parks, but it’s got plenty more lovely trails! Some are super popular, like the trails in Red Rocks Park, for instance, but others are lesser-known, and those lesser-known ones tend to be our favorites! If you enjoy long hikes, you’ll love the iconic Centennial Cone Trail, which is hidden in the wilds near Golden. It’s 13.3 miles of amazing scenery, and it’s one you won’t soon forget. Turn it into a multi-day thing! It’s amazing! You also may want to check out Herman Gulch Trail, which leads to Herman Lake. It’s an amazing view of some of Colorado’s most amazing landscapes, and when we say it’s amazing, we mean it’s amazing. Best of all, that one’s easy, and it’s about half as long as the Centennial Cone Trail. We also really like the Mount Flora Trail. For more information about each of these and then some, check out this list of six of the best little-known hikes near Denver!