Denver SmartHunts®

Denver offers a variety of landmarks and culture!

Blending fun, exploration, and corporate teambuilding, a SmartHunts® Denver scavenger hunt is an experience that will have your team buzzing with excitement.

SmartHunts can customize your event to include much of what Denver has to offer, including world-class architectural marvels, top-tier museums, unique foods, and drinks, as well as highlighting the features of
Denver’s mix of modern and historic culture. SmartHunts takes your team on a Denver scavenger hunt through this great city where they can discover their own Denver style.

Whether your team is local to the area, or visiting from out-of-town, the SmartHunts team can create a fresh experience for your group with a fun corporate scavenger hunt. SmartHunts offers a unique corporate adventure tailored just for you and can take your group on any combination of San Denver’s great neighborhoods and landmarks, including.

1. Civic Center Park
   Civic Center Park was 45 years in the making, beginning with the construction of the Colorado State Capitol in 1890 and finishing with the Denver City and County Building in 1935. Beaux-Arts classicism, descended from ancient Greek and Roman architectural designs, is well represented in the balance, symmetry and landscaping of the park.

   There’s a lot to see and do in Civic Center Park which makes it an exceptional location for your SmartHunts Denver scavenger hunt!

   Colorado State Capitol was fashioned after the United States Capitol building in Washington DC and built with locally quarried granite and marble. The hall at the main entrance is open all the up the 180 feet to the top of the gold leafed dome and many of the windows are stained glass. This building is a Denver must-see for sure.

   Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park is a lovely park just west of the Capitol Building featuring monuments and memorials.

   Voorhies Memorial Gateway is an impressive copy of the Water Gateway from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago.

   McNichols Civic Center Building is a 1909 Greek Revival event venue that specializes in Arts and Culture and is located next to the Voorhies.
   Greek Amphitheatre is just that, located across the park from The Voorhies and features live concerts and events.

   Denver Art Museum is just south of Civic Center Park and houses a collection of over 7,000 creations from the near east to the far west and hosts events and workshops.

   Denver County Courthouse is located at the west end of Civic Center Park across from the Capitol Building at the east end, thereby giving the whole park balance and symmetry. Naturally one doesn’t want to have to go there but it is a seriously impressive, gigantic neo-classic edifice and should be seen.

   Nearby points of interest include:
   Denver Mint which is just next door to the County Courthouse. Built in 1897 Italian Renaissance revival style, it features a frieze just under the red tile roof and murals in its atrium.

   History Colorado Center showcases Colorado and American West history through interactive exhibits, artifacts, displays and lectures.
   Molly Brown House Museum is the former home of Titanic survivor and socialite Margaret Brown who was also an activist and philanthropist.

   Denver Firefighters Museum has an expansive collection of firefighting related items housed in four galleries in the circa 1909 Fire Station 1.

   Byers-Evans House is an Italianate style 1883 house built by the owner of the Rocky Mountain News and later donated to History Colorado along with the home’s contents. Today it is the home of the Center for Colorado Women’s History.

   Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is an enormous, imposing French Gothic style Roman Catholic Church just north of the Capitol Building. Worth seeing.

   Clyfford Still Museum displays nine galleries of the abstract artist’s creations.

   Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art features the largest archive of Colorado and regional art dating from the 1840s through the 20th century as well as international decorative art.
2. Central Business District
   Central Business District is basically the southeastern half of Downtown Denver and the sightseeing, dining, shopping and drinking options are seemingly endless. It’s also a great place for a SmartHunts Denver scavenger hunt. Some of those options are listed below.

   Entertainment:

   The Colorado Convention Center is a state-of-the-art facility that books 250+ events per year and is within walking distance of hundreds of restaurants, hotels and theatres.

   The Denver Center for Performing Arts Complex features Broadway shows, theatre, musicals, symphonies, ballet, opera and more!

   Sculpture Park is an outdoor venue hosting festivals and concerts and features the iconic Jonathan Borofsky 60 ft tall Dancers sculpture.

   Paramount Theatre is a gorgeous 1930s art deco concert venue.

   Great Divide Brewing Co serves great beer and food in a lively atmosphere.

   Hard Rock Cafe does the same as above.

   Skyline Park is a 3-block long park with ice skating in winter, a beer garden in summer.

   Architecture:

   The Brown Palace Hotel & Spa is a stunning triangular 1892 hotel with an 8 story atrium and its own artesian well.

   Equitable Building is an elegant, pink granite, 1892 Italianate Renaissance Revival style historical landmark with a spectacular bronze staircase.

   Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals is an enormous and imposing 1912 neo-classical Georgian marble edifice.

   The Granite Tower is a Class A 31 story multi-use building and an anchor of retail and office complex, Denver Place.

   Shopping and dining:

   16th Street Mall offers 300+ stores, restaurants and entertainment options including major and local retailers.

   Denver Pavilions is an open-air shopping mall offering international and local retailers as well as restaurants, bars, movies and entertainment.
3. LoDo – Lower Downtown
   Lower Downtown is a busy, eclectic, revitalized 25 square block district of 19th century warehouses, commercial buildings and storefronts located in the northwestern part of Downtown Denver.

   LoDo easily offers over 100 restaurants including fine and casual dining, gastropubs, cafes, bakeries and food trucks serving up all styles of cuisine.

   There’s also no shortage of nightclubs, brew pubs, sports bars, taverns, live music venues, rooftop bars, comedy clubs, art galleries and retailers.

   Entertainment includes:

   Coors Field, a 50,000-seat stadium that’s home to the Colorado Rockies.

   McGregor Square is conveniently located adjacent to Coors Field and offers bars, restaurants, shops, a hotel and an immense outdoor plaza for dining, concerts, movies and tailgate parties.

   Larimer Square has unique restaurants, bars, specialty boutiques and a comedy club in beautifully restored Victorian buildings surrounding a pedestrian mall.

   Dairy Block is a micro-district that offers a myriad of mostly locally owned shopping, dining and drinking establishments along with live music, art shows and other events.

   Architecture:

   Denver Union Station is a gorgeous 1914 beaux arts-style transportation hub still in use today but renovated in 2014 to accommodate restaurants, shopping and a hotel.

   Oxford Hotel is an 1891 first class red brick Victorian hotel that features the famous art-deco style Cruise Room cocktail lounge, Denver’s longest running bar.

   The National Ballpark Museum is a really cool baseball history museum featuring memorabilia and artifacts from the original 14 ballparks.

   Denver City Railway Building is of Romanesque Revival-style and was built in 1889 as the company’s HQ and wheelhouse.

   Daniels & Fisher Tower was built in 1912 and features a clock tower with an observation deck on the 20th floor. Panoramic views!

   Other points of interest include:
   Museum of Contemporary Art Denver which found its home in a renovated fish market in Sakura Square and features over 7,000 works of art from 1900 to the present.

   K Contemporary is a contemporary art gallery featuring urban contemporary and street art by local and national artists.

   Denver Millennium Bridge is an interesting cable-stayed pedestrian bridge that spans railroad tracks and connects 16th Street Mall with the Commons Park. More great views!

   Commons Park is a 5 block long, 20-acre park located along the Platte River where gold was discovered in 1858. It features a large lawn area, shade trees, walking paths, benches, a wetland area and panoramic views of downtown Denver.

   Confluence Park is a 4-acre urban park situated on the west boundary of Commons Park at the junction of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek and it’s a popular place for kayaking and tubing or hiking, fishing and picnicking.
4. River North Arts District
   RiNo is a revitalized industrial district featuring contemporary art galleries, music venues, food halls and trucks, cocktail lounges, patio bars and brew pubs. Sounds like a great place for a SmartHunts Denver scavenger hunt!

   Some dining and drinking options include:

   Bigsby’s Folly Craft Winery & Restaurant
   Bierstadt Lagerhaus
   Blue Moon Brewing Company
   Epic Brewing Company
   Great Divide Barrel Bar
   Ironton Distillery & Crafthouse
   Mockery Brewing
   RiNo Beer Garden
   The Block Distilling Co.
   14er Brewing & Beer Garden

   Denver Central Market is a Food Hall featuring restaurants, markets and retail located in the gorgeous 1920s H.H. Tammen Curio Co. building.

   Globe Hall Live Music and BBQ is a popular saloon-style venue specializing in wood-fired Texas-Style BBQ and live music.

   Entertainment options include:

   Denver Coliseum, a 10,000+ seat indoor arena that hosts everything from concerts to auto shows to state sporting events, graduation ceremonies and rodeos.

   The Mission Ballroom, a 4,000-capacity concert hall, books national acts nearly every night of the year.

   EXDO Event Center is 3,500 seat space for concerts, sporting events, conferences, fundraisers and parties.

   Forney Museum of Transportation has 800+ historical transportation artifacts and memorabilia on display including cars, motorcycles, tractors, aircraft and Union Pacific’s ‘Big Boy’ Steam Locomotive. Really cool.

   The First Friday Art Walks is a year-round event held every first Friday from 5:30-9:30 p.m. on Santa Fe Drive. More than 100 artist studios are represented.