public skatepark · since 2001
Denver Skatepark
Sixty thousand square feet of free concrete at the north end of Commons Park
Just north of Commons Park, where 19th Street meets Little Raven and the Platte, the city built one of the largest free public skateparks in the country in 2001: roughly 60,000 square feet of bowls, snake runs, ledges and rails, lit at night and open from 5am to 11pm every day. Skaters, BMX riders and rollerbladers share it; Tony Hawk skated it in 2024. It is loud, unshaded and busiest late afternoon into evening. Not a spectator sport exactly, but the benches on the Commons Park side are a fine place to watch with a coffee, and it is one of the few places downtown where teenagers are actually the point.
Why go. Watch or ride at a world-class park that costs nothing, five minutes from Union Station.
Mornings before 10 are the mellow session; helmets are your problem, not the city's, and there is no shade, so bring water in August.
A short walk from Denver Skatepark
Railyard Dog Park
Downtown's only lit dog park, wedged against the tracks
LoDo · 19th St & Little Raven St
riverfront parkCommons Park
The big green hill between Union Station and the river
LoDo · 15th St & Little Raven St
Hilton Garden Inn Denver Union Station
$$Predictable chain rooms on a quiet block behind the station
LoDo · 1999 Chestnut Pl
Maria Empanada
$Argentine empanadas baked all day, from breakfast through early dinner
Platte Street & the bridge · 1700 Platte Street
Woodie Fisher Kitchen & Bar
$$Bar and grill inside Hose House No. 1, Denver's oldest surviving firehouse.
LoDo · 1999 Chestnut Place
Skye Liquor
$Neighborhood bottle shop north of the ballpark, open late every night
LoDo · 2907 Inca Street