Ill be out that way with a crew for the Tyler Childers concert at the end of Sept. at Red Rocks. Going to want some recommendations. We get in on Sat morning and head out on Tues. have basically all day Sat, Sun, and Mon.
Tried to get these tired asses to go to a Broncs or Rockies game since they’re both in town but it seems like they have other designs.
Restaurants, bars, sites, etc. I used to go Co a bunch when I was younger to ski at Vail and Aspen, but it’s been 20 years and back then we never stayed in Denver.
My knowledge of the bar scene is pretty limited with a couple of smalls running around, but I'll pull some recs. My info on that scene would be dated. I don't tend to venture up to Denver for restaurants that often either, so I'll get you something on that as well.
I will note that traffic into and out of Denver in almost all directions is pretty ugly, especially in "leaf" season heading toward the mountains. That season is way overblown out here though. You get the aspens turning yellow - nothing compared to fall in back east where there are more varieties of trees than aspens and ponderosa pines.
I always recommend the drive up Mt Evans or Pikes Peak. It's usually best to let yourself get used to the altitude of the front range for a couple of days before trudging up to 14k+ feet. I'd judge that one based on the health of your crew. Pikes Peak has a cog railway to get to the peak as well, but they shut that down for maintenance. It won't reopen until 2021. That ride was always awesome.
Red Rocks itself is pretty cool, and it's a park with trails when it's not a concert venue. It's pretty similar to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs at least in terms of geology.
You could always go up to Boulder to see the hippies on parade. The city is actually pretty decent (outside of the hippies) and they have some good parks and trails on the west side of town. If you have a geek squad, NIST and NOAA are up there. Those campuses are really very nice, especially NOAA's. I'm not sure what it takes to visit them. I've been to both, but it was always work related. The CU campus is also really nice, but I can only get so excited being on some random college campus.
Rocky Mountain National Park is always a good stop.
The AF Academy is on the north side of Colorado Springs. It's a cool campus, so that's worth a stop if that sort of thing excites your crew. The Chapel is a cool structure for sure. The grounds are right up against the mountains which makes it pretty scenic. I checked the FB schedule, and they have a home game the Friday before you arrive. It's definitely not Parents' weekend, so it shouldn't be mobbed with visitors.
Cripple Creek is an old gambling town that still has legal gambling. It's not a bad visit. Black Hawk might be closer from Denver. They put some really large new stuff up there outside of the historic stuff, still perfectly serviceable if you are looking for gambling though.
Red Rocks is pretty close to Golden - the home of Coors. Last time I was there, you got 3 free beers with your tour. When I spent more time in Golden, we used to go for the "short tour", which put you on the elevators to get your free booze.
I'm sure I'll come up with more. If you want something in a more specific direction (outdoors, entertainment, whatever), let me know. I'm glad to help.
