Running tour · Denver

Gold, Domes and the Mile High

5.1 mi run

Open in Stride Stories

The stories on this route

1. Civic Center Park

   Look both ways. The gold Capitol dome to the east. To the west, the curved, columned City and County Building with its clock tower, and on a clear day, the mountains beyond.

2. The Molly Brown House

   Look for the stone lions by the steps. This is the House of Lions, and Mrs. Brown added the lions herself.

3. The Colorado State Capitol

   Look up the lawn at the gold dome. It started out as copper, tin and zinc. In 1908 real gold leaf went on, commemorating the Colorado Gold Rush. The Capitol, designed by Elijah Myers to recall the one in Washington, had opened in 1894.

4. The Daniels and Fisher Tower

   Look up at the slim cream clock tower standing on its own. Around 1910 it went up as part of the Daniels & Fisher department store. Architect Frederick Sterner modelled it on St. Mark's bell tower in Venice. It's more than 300 feet tall, and back then it was the tallest structure between the Mississippi and California.

5. Larimer Square

   Look up at the strings of lights over Larimer Street, then down at the cast-iron storefronts. Those were ordered from a catalogue.

6. Union Station

   Look at the front of Union Station and find the two niches with dates in them. One says 1881. The other says 1914.

7. Confluence Park

   Look at the spot where Cherry Creek pours into the South Platte. Denver was founded near here, in 1858.

8. The Denver Mint

   Look at the street in front of the Mint, here on West Colfax, and the iron grilles on its windows.

9. Colfax Avenue and the Colfax Marathon

   Look along Colfax Avenue, straight, wide and busy. It's just under fifty miles long, and it's billed as the longest continuous commercial street in the United States.

Stories researched October 2026 · every fact checked against a source