Weekend trip to Denver for 13yo?

[sasquatch69 611]

We’re in Denver for the weekend with our son for his 13th bday. He’s into creative stuff - not as big a sports fan. We’re already hitting up Meow Wolf and Denver Central Market downtown today. What else should we not miss? Any restaurant recs that aren’t chains?  We are staying right off I-70 near Stapleton area.

[Pato del Muerto 53175]

Would he be interested in this?

https://www.forneymuseum.org/

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

did you check the weekend trip to denver thread?

[Js1 86393]

15 minutes ago, sasquatch69 said:

We are staying right off I-70 near Stapleton area.

Never heard of it. Oh you mean Central Park

[sasquatch69 611]

24 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

did you check the weekend trip to denver thread?

Yes - both the “4 Days in…” and “Denver” threads. They were mostly food-focused, and I wonder how many of those recs are still valid post-Covid. Mainly I’m interested in stuff to do that the kid would like. 

[Guest]

there are like 42000 public areas for hiking and whatnot.  That could knock out a day, easily.

I'd recommend St Mary's Glacier or Walter Mansion Ruins, if you're in to that kind of shit.  We took our boys at that age. There's a ton of cool little hikes that kids that age can handle.

[conVINCEd 21476]

Get him some edibles.

[6th Street 6628]

Take him hiking at Red Rocks before 3p hits and have lunch in Morrison. Or keep going and drive out to Aldefer Park in Evergreen or to the lake.

Walk around downtown Golden, have lunch, and drive up Lookout Mountain. Stop at Windy Saddle Park.

Idaho Springs and Echo Lake if you want to go out out further

Lot of good restaurants on Broadway and in Cherry Creek. Lower Highlands aka LoHi as well. 

[huge 3813]

The museum area is cool and worth a look.  My 7 year old loved it.

[sasquatch69 611]

Thanks to all for the advice.  We had a wonderful weekend.  Highlights:
- Meow Wolf (insanely creative - but on a much bigger budget than the original in Santa Fe)

- Denver Cat Company (a coffee/tea spot full of cats up for adoption to play with)

- Union Station area and Confluence Park downtown

- Golden and Evergreen for some time closer to the mountains (we've done Vail, Estes Park, etc. on previous trips but didn't have as much time to venture further afield)

If you're in the Central Park (formerly Stapleton) area, highly recommend Four Friends Kitchen for breakfast - it was so good we went two mornings in a row.

Edited May 2, 2022 by sasquatch69