formal garden
Centennial Gardens
A five-acre French formal garden that almost nobody visits
Between Speer Boulevard, the Platte and the back fence of Elitch Gardens sits a five-acre Denver Parks garden laid out like a small Versailles: clipped hedges, gravel axes, a central fountain basin, but planted with drought-tolerant Colorado species instead of thirsty European ones. It is walled and gated, which is why it stays quiet even on a Rockies Saturday, and why you may find the gate locked at odd hours; visitors report signs disagreeing with each other about times. In season it is one of the calmest places in the city, ten minutes' walk from Union Station over the Speer bridge or along the river trail from Confluence Park.
Why go. A genuinely quiet garden in the middle of everything, when the gate is open.
Try mid-morning to mid-afternoon on a weekday; if the Little Raven gate is locked, the walk continues on the river trail to Confluence Park anyway.
A short walk from Centennial Gardens
Fishback Landing Park
Not yet checked by us
Platte Street & the bridge
Denver Trolley
$A 25-minute open-air 'Breezer' ride along the Platte, run by volunteers
LoDo · 1406 Platte St
ParkConfluence Park
Where Cherry Creek meets the Platte, and where Denver started
LoDo · 2250 15th St
Cherry Creek Trail at Confluence
The below-grade bike path out of downtown, starting at the river
LoDo · Trailhead at Confluence Park
LandmarkElitch Gardens
$$$Downtown's amusement park, still running in 2026 despite years of closure rumors
LoDo · 2000 Elitch Cir
REI Park
Not yet checked by us
Platte Street & the bridge · 1400 Platte Street