Mile High City Tour in Denver

After you settle into your hotel, stretch your legs and explore your neighborhood. Denver is a walkable city filled with an exploding young population, bursting with residents who are young, hip and ecologically conscious. The city planners have navigated its expansion with the local wildlife in mind, continually considering the effect on the environment and its adventure seekers who practice ecotourism.

Denver’s food culture is hip and modern, so your group dinner tonight will be memorable. Meet your guide and go over your itinerary for the week.

Denver has a thriving artist subculture, most apparent in the RiNo (River North) District. Building owners commission graffiti artists across the globe to paint full-size murals on their buildings. Your local guide will show you the hidden art gems of the RiNo District, where gritty street art and industrial buildings work in harmony.

This afternoon, your local expert hiking guide will take you to one of the many short hikes near Denver. Today you will start slowly, as altitude sickness is real and can be tempered by easing into the “Mile High” life.

You will set off for Boulder early this morning. The terrain changes quickly as you leave Denver, with the landscape changing almost immediately into farm country. Since the city and rural areas are so closely linked, Denver residents are constantly reminded how their city directly affects their food supply. 

Your first stop is Boulder’s iconic landmark, the Flatirons. These reddish sandstone formations provide an excellent stepping stone on your “Mile High” hike. Your guide might suggest starting at the Chautauqua Trailhead where most of the beginner and intermediate trails begin. Keep an eye out for the local inhabitants: black bears, mountain lions, deer and coyotes.   

Spend the afternoon wandering down Pearl Street, a pedestrian outdoor mall. Stop in one of Boulder’s eclectic eating establishments. Enjoy an evening on the town before your tour guide drives you back to Denver.

On the way to Colorado Springs is Garden of the Gods. This Natural National Landmark highlights 300-foot high sandstone formations. Experience a rare climbing expedition where you can climb up and rappel down these beautiful rocks. As you climb, notice the creature homes punctuating the rocks.

Hold your breath as your guide maneuvers the van up to the 14,000-foot summit of Pikes Peak. Marvel at the exceptionally engineered road of switchbacks and curves as you climb higher and higher. The trip is worth the drive when you look down upon the earth below, you feel as if you are touching the sky.

Leave early this morning for the trip out to the Red Rock Amphitheater for sunrise yoga. Take to your mat and begin the day with a sunrise yoga class in the mind-blowing Red Rocks Amphitheater. Breathe the incredibly fresh mountain air as you hold Warrior Pose.

After a post-yoga nosh, hit the trails at this gorgeous park, 6,200 feet above sea level. 

Have lunch at the Ship Rock Grille where you can sip a cold beverage and marvel at the amazing views of Colorado.

Spend the afternoon wandering through the Colorado Music Hall of Fame before enjoying a concert at one of the best acoustic venues in the world.

Today is the big hike day. Don your trekkies and pack your lunch.  Your guide will join you as you traverse the paths and ledges that are the Arapahoe Basin. Hike Grizzly Peak Trail, a 5-mile, 1,637 vertical foot hike, or the milder McCullough Gulch Trail that is 3.4 miles long but only 1,100 vertical feet. Keep a sharp eye out for the mountain’s residents including snakes, birds, antelope, bears and other animals that wander these mountains.

Enjoy a relaxing dinner at one of Denver’s first-class restaurants where you can fill up after working up a great appetite on your epic trek.

Before you head to the airport, enjoy one of Denver’s many first-class restaurants or local haunts where farm-to-table cooking is a way of life, not just a fad.