Summertime in Colorado is incredible. Recently, I traveled to Denver, which is known as the Mile High City. The reason Denver is known as the Mile High City is due to the altitude, the city is located exactly one mile above sea level. Denver is the capital of Colorado. Curiously enough, this is not the highest capital city in terms of altitude in the US. The highest capital city in terms of altitude is Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Denver is home to the largest airport in terms of square miles in the United States. The airfield is approximately 53 square miles, which is 34,000 acres. One of the reasons for the larger airfield is that at the higher altitude, planes need more runway to generate lift, as the thinner air causes planes to have travel faster to take off or land.
The downtown area of Denver is undergoing tremendous growth and expansion. There are many new buildings downtown, including some like McGregor Square which includes a 13th story walkway that connects one of the hotels with nearby office buildings.
Downtown Denver is also home to many public art installations and murals across the buildings. There are plenty of local restaurants and bars which seem to be packed on a daily basis. Denver is definitely not a city that shuts down at night.
Denver is also home to the Colorado Rockies baseball team, which plays its games at Coors Field. This ballpark is one of the largest fields in Major League Baseball. Due to the thin air in Colorado, the ball tends to travel further when hit, thus the outfield dimensions are further away than any other ballpark in Major League Baseball. Even with the further dimensions, the games at Coors Field tend to be high scoring. On the upper deck of the ballpark is a row of purple seats, that stand out from the rest of the seats. This row of purple seats is exactly one mile above sea level. It is really cool to see a game sitting “a mile high.”
No trip to Denver is complete without visiting the Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains are due west of the city of Denver. The mountains tower over the city and make for some incredible sunsets. It is not uncommon to see the Rocky Mountains snow capped year round. It is a short drive across Interstate 70 from downtown Denver to get to the mountains, but make sure to be driving a SUV, as there are some steep grades on Interstate 70. Also, bring a jacket, as it can easily be 20 to 30 degrees colder in the mountains than in downtown Denver.
Denver is home to a tremendous outdoors culture whether hiking, biking, or doing other outdoors activities with many sunny days, its population loves to get out and explore. I highly recommend visiting Denver, Colorado!