46. Stockton’s Plum Creek Stables
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (303) 791-1966
Address: 7479 W. Titan Rd.
Description: Stockton’s has access to the 7,000 acres of Chatfield State Recreation Area via its own private entrance. The area is beautiful, with plenty of bird-watching opportunities on native prairie grasses. Find the stables by going about 4 miles south of C-470 on Santa Fe Drive and turning right on Titan Road. Call for information on hayrides and special events.
47. A Worthy Ranch & Stables
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (303) 841-9405
Address: 4241 W. Parker Rd.
Description: On the south side of Metro Denver, A Worthy Ranch & Stables offers lessons as well as riding along miles of trails. Guided rides are available by reservation only, with a 2-hour minimum. Reach it by taking I-25 a little more than a mile south of its intersection with C-470, then traveling east about 2.5 miles on Lincoln Avenue (exit 193) before turning right on a little dirt road called West Parker Road. A Worthy Ranch & Stables is about 2 miles down West Parker Road on the left.
48. Arvada Tennis Center
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (303) 420-1210
Description: This is a fine public facility with eight courts and sanctioned USTA play. If you want to take to the courts, we suggest making reservations in advance. It is open nightly and on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
49. Aurora Parks and Recreation
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (303) 326-8700
Description: Aurora has a good reputation for its public tennis program. Pros offer beginning, intermediate, and advanced lessons for 1-week or 2-week sessions as well as evening and Saturday lessons. Tournament play is available, too; check the summer brochure. Aurora maintains 72 courts on a first-come, first-served basis. Very few courts are lighted; one exception is Del Mar Park at 6th Avenue and Peoria Street.
50. Denver Parks and Recreation
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (720) 913-1311
Description: The city recreation district maintains a few dozen courts across the city for daytime play. There are junior programs and adult lesson programs throughout the Denver area. The USTA youth tournament program runs 7 weeks of instruction in the summer and 1 week of tournaments beginning in early June. Adults age 18 and older can join the Congress Park (8th Avenue and York Street east of downtown) program or the Berkeley Park (46th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard northwest of town) program in June and July. Call for information on other programs.
51. Gates Tennis Center
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (303) 355-4461
Address: 3300 E. Bayaud Ave.
Description: This popular facility is just south of the Cherry Creek Mall and consistently rated as one of the top public tennis facilities in the country. You don’t need a membership, court times are reasonable, and lessons are competitively priced. It has one of the nation’s largest tennis ladders, a challenge arrangement in which you sign up at a certain level and begin to play and move up and down the ladder. Gates has more than 1,000 people on its computerized ladder, enough to offer specialized ladders for singles, doubles, etc. There’s even a coed ladder reputed to be a good place for singles to meet. It’s a 20-court facility complete with clubhouse, locker room, and pro shop. Pros will teach you, and ball machines will test you.
52. Holly Tennis Center
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (303) 771-3654
Address: 6651 S. Krameria Way
Description: Holly offers the most USTA-sanctioned tournaments in Colorado. It offers programs on a total of 40 courts, including use of courts in the South Suburban Recreation District. Six of Holly’s courts are lighted. It also offers league play and group lessons.
53. Ken Caryl Ranch Community Center
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (303) 979-2233
Address: 1 Club Dr.
Description: Ken Caryl has four indoor courts and six outdoor courts. You won’t find prettier surroundings; the Ken Caryl Ranch community is in the red-rock moonscape of the valley hidden behind the Hogback Formation that runs north-south along C-470. The facility is actually owned by Jefferson County Open Space. Offered here are leagues, tournaments, and lessons for resident and nonresident youths and adults. You also can purchase a membership to the center. Cost varies depending on the program.
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
55. Highline Canal
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: Denver Water Department, Offic
Description: Another easy trail south of Denver, this one runs a total of 71 miles along the irrigation ditch completed in 1883 by Scotsman James Duff. Only 58 of those miles are hikeable, but they can be traveled in segments long or short enough to suit any appetite. Most of the trail is wheelchair and stroller accessible, and it’s open year-round to walkers, hikers, joggers, horseback riders, bikers, and in-line skaters. It can be reached in Englewood on South Santa Fe Drive, County Line Road, or Hampden Avenue, and in Aurora on Havana Street or Colfax Avenue.
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
57. Bureau of Land Management
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: For more information about all the state’s ski resorts, contact Colorado Ski Country USA, a trade association (303-837-0793; coloradoski.com).
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
60. Arapahoe Basin Ski & Snowboard Area
City: Denver, CO
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (970) 468-0718
Description: At a base altitude of 10,800 feet above sea level, Arapahoe Basin is where Insiders head for unbeatable spring skiing. On years when late snows replenish its base, Arapahoe has welcomed skiers through the first week of August, but that’s not its only claim to fame. Arapahoe Basin offers the highest lift-served terrain on the North American continent, with a summit at 13,050 feet. It is characterized by tough terrain and tough weather conditions—but a good day here is a great day. Don’t forget the sunscreen. Arapahoe Basin is a full-service resort, if not glamorous. The most important thing you’ll find here is great skiing (490 acres; 40 percent expert), backed by a cafeteria, bar, ski school, rental shop, and retail store.