City Park: an oasis of green in the Mile High City
Published: Jun 13, 2009
City Park is Denver's largest and finest park, boasting 330 acres of lawns, trees and lakes, along with cultural institutions such as the Museum of Nature and Science and the Denver Zoo on its centrally located grounds.
From its various vantage points, you’ll enjoy great views of the Denver skyline and the ice-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains that frame it. Pelicans, ducks and geese swim through Ferril Lake, which sometimes is clear enough to reflect of the Boathouse’s red-tiled roof in its glassy waters.
Many of the nearby trees are smaller than those of the city’s other parks, which makes for a friendly and garden-like feeling. There's plenty of room to spread out blankets or set up volleyball nets on the large, open grassy areas.
Even on the brightest of days, with the strong Colorado sun seeming to melt the whole park into the perfection of the present moment, you might feel the pull of the past.
Although Denver started out in 1858 as a mining camp with wild saloons displaying Indian scalps, its residents began to long for a more genteel way of life. In 1882, Henry Merryweather designed the park, inspired by New York’s Central Park as well as English pastoral gardens.
The Shakespeare Elm, planted in 1916, was grown from a cutting taken of a tree at Shakespeare’s grave. Numerous memorials grace the park, including a statue of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Some people won’t like City Park’s lack of a single biking/jogging/walking path going all the way around it or all the goose dropppings they’ll have to dodge when they stroll near the lakes.
Good things at the park include boat rentals and ballparks and barbecue areas. Many park fans love the free summer concert series.
Outside the Museum of Nature and Science, in the fountain area, jets of water shoot up 20 feet into the air, and kids run through them laughing and screaming in delight. In a park full of great things to do, that might be the best of all.
- by David Zindell, Denver Reporter for HelloMetro
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