Denver, Colorado
Denver self-guided walking tour: a free downtown loop.
A free, original loop through historic downtown Denver: the mile-high steps of the Colorado State Capitol, the Voorhies Memorial in Civic Center Park, the Central Library, the Denver Art Museum, Larimer Square, the rebuilt 16th Street, Union Station and the D&F Clock Tower. Read the stops here, then open the mapped route on your iPhone.
Start at the Colorado State Capitol
Begin at the foot of the Capitol’s west steps, off Lincoln Street at Colfax Avenue. The loop crosses Civic Center to the library and art museum, follows Bannock and 14th streets to Larimer Square, then returns along 16th Street from Union Station. Denver sits about a mile high, where the air is thin and dry and the sun strong, so carry water, wear sunscreen and pace yourself. Denver Parks and Recreation has fenced the center of Civic Center Park, including the Greek Theater, for construction scheduled to finish in late 2027; the Voorhies Memorial area stays open. Every stop is seen from public sidewalks and plazas. The route follows mapped pedestrian paths, but it has not been walked on site by Daily Wander.
- On iPhone, get Daily Wander if you do not have it.
- Return to this page and tap Open the tour in Daily Wander. Check the preview, then choose Open in Daily Wander.
- In the app, review the route and choose Start this route or Save route. Keep this guide handy for the stop notes.
Museum visits, tickets and meals are separate and are not included in the walking time. Follow local signs, closures and diversions.
Eight stops, in walking order
The route uses public viewpoints. Check the linked sources for current access before planning a visit inside.
Stop 1
Colorado State Capitol
Begin at the foot of the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol, facing Civic Center Park. Designed by Elijah E. Myers and built of Colorado white granite, the Capitol opened in November 1894; its dome is copper gilded with gold leaf from a Colorado mine, first added in 1908 to mark the Colorado Gold Rush. Climb the steps and count: the 15th step is engraved “One Mile Above Sea Level,” a 1969 resurvey set a marker on the 18th, and a 2003 measurement put a third marker on the 13th.
Colorado State Capitol (State of Colorado): History of the Capitol
Stop 2
Voorhies Memorial Gateway
Walk down the steps, cross Lincoln Street and Broadway into Civic Center Park, and follow the path northwest to the curved colonnade on Colfax Avenue. A posthumous $125,000 gift from John H. P. Voorhies, an early banker and mining investor, paid for this gateway, designed by the brothers William E. and Arthur A. Fisher in light gray Turkey Creek sandstone. Look inside the arch for Allen Tupper True’s murals, Bison on the east and Elk on the west, then at Robert Garrison’s bronze infants riding sea lions in the pool, installed in 1922.
History Colorado: Denver Civic Center National Historic Landmark nomination (PDF)
Stop 3
Denver Central Library
Walk south along the Broadway side of the park and cross 14th Avenue to the library. Burnham Hoyt’s Central Library opened here in October 1956 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, the same year about 75 percent of voters approved a $91.6 million bond issue. Michael Graves, working with the Denver firm Klipp Colussy Jenks DuBois, added onto Hoyt’s building, and the expanded library opened on March 25, 1995. Look at the seven-story exterior of limestone and precast concrete with copper accents.
Denver Public Library: The History of the Denver Public Library
Stop 4
Denver Art Museum
Walk around the library’s west side to Acoma Plaza, beside the Denver Art Museum’s angular Frederic C. Hamilton Building. Daniel Libeskind designed the 146,000-square-foot building, which opened on October 7, 2006, to recall the peaks of the Rockies, and covered it in 9,000 titanium panels. The Reiman Bridge crosses 13th Avenue to the north side of the campus and the Lanny & Sharon Martin Building by Gio Ponti and James Sudler Associates, opened in 1971 as the North Building. Look for its skin of more than a million reflective glass tiles.
Stop 5
Larimer Square
Walk north on Bannock Street past the City and County Building, cross Colfax Avenue and follow 14th Street northwest for about two-thirds of a mile, then turn right onto Larimer Street. Denver’s development began on this spot in 1858; fires in 1863 destroyed the first wooden buildings, and the two- and three-story brick blocks you see date from the late 19th century. Preservationist Dana Crawford led their rescue from urban renewal in the mid-1960s, and the block joined the National Register on May 7, 1973. Look for Italianate and Gothic Revival details on the facades.
Stop 6
16th Street
Walk northwest along Larimer Street to 16th Street and turn left onto the pedestrian street. The City and County of Denver says 16th Street was built in 1982 with federal funds, and its rebuild between Market Street and Broadway is now complete, with new granite pavers laid in the historic pattern and transit lanes in the center. Look along the sidewalks for the new seating, grouped into “feast,” “lounge” and “arrow” rooms, the Hive play feature, and “Moments of Joy” such as a cutthroat trout.
Stop 7
Denver Union Station
Continue northwest on 16th Street to Wynkoop Street, turn right and walk to the plaza in front of Union Station. The first Denver Union Depot opened here on June 1, 1881, 500 feet long with a 180-foot clock tower, and was once the tallest building in the West. An electrical fire on March 18, 1894, destroyed its central hall and tower. The present station, built of carved granite in the Beaux-Arts style, opened in 1914 and reopened in 2014 as a shopping and dining hub. Look up at its granite front from the plaza.
Stop 8
D&F Clock Tower
Walk back southeast along 16th Street for about half a mile to Arapahoe Street. Frederick J. Sterner and George H. Williamson designed this 21-story tower for the 1911 Daniels and Fisher dry goods store, modeling it on the Campanile of St. Mark’s in Venice. The tower joined the National Register on December 3, 1969, and survived when the store was demolished in the Skyline urban renewal project of the 1970s. Look up for the arcaded observation deck and the 16-foot Seth-Thomas clock. To finish, walk southeast on 16th Street to Broadway and on to the Capitol’s west steps.
Keep the route with you
The tour link opens a route preview with an iPhone handoff. You can also download the GPX and open it from Files → Share → Daily Wander. The app shows the route; this page supplies the stop descriptions.
Denver walking-tour questions
How long is this Denver walking tour?
The mapped loop is about 3.6 miles (5.9 km). That is roughly 75 minutes of moving time at 3 mph; allow 2–3 hours with stops.
Where is the mile-high step at the Colorado State Capitol, and are Capitol tours free?
The State of Colorado’s Capitol website says Denver’s official elevation is measured on the west steps, where the 15th step is engraved “One Mile Above Sea Level.” A 1969 resurvey added a marker on the 18th step, and a more accurate 2003 measurement placed a third on the 13th. The same site lists free guided tours on weekdays, first come, first served; they last about an hour and include the dome, which is reached by stairs only. Check its latest tour notice for current times.
Is Civic Center Park open, and is the 16th Street construction finished?
Partly, and yes. Denver Parks and Recreation says construction in Civic Center Park was underway by November 2025 and is scheduled to finish in late 2027; the central promenade and Greek Theater area are closed, while the Broadway Terrace, the area around the Voorhies Memorial and the Great Lawn stay open. The City and County of Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure says the 16th Street Mall Project construction is complete.
Can I follow the route on my iPhone?
Yes. Tap Open the tour in Daily Wander, check the route preview and choose Open in Daily Wander. If you need the app, install it first and return to this page. The page supplies the stop notes; the app shows the walking route.
Does the walk return to the start?
Yes. The loop starts and finishes at the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol.
Can I download the GPX instead?
Yes. Download the GPX from this page, save it in Files on iPhone and share it to Daily Wander. The route geometry is available under the Open Database License.
Make another walk from your hotel
For a different distance or a loop from another starting point, use the US walking-route planner. Daily Wander can suggest a separate loop from the location you choose.
More self-guided tours: Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans French Quarter, New Orleans Garden District, Nashville, Washington DC, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston Freedom Trail, St. Augustine, San Diego, Seattle, Key West, Austin, Portland, Oregon, Las Vegas Strip and Amsterdam.
Original itinerary by VANTH Studio. Reviewed October 20, 2026. Route geometry from OpenStreetMap via the FOSSGIS pedestrian router; distance measured along the track. Actual time depends on your pace, stops and diversions. Access to venues is controlled by their operators.