In July 1887, Tom Groves and Harry Lytton were prospecting for gold near Breckenridge. They found more than they bargained for: a 13.5-pound nugget of crystalline gold, the biggest one ever found in Colorado. Groves swaddled it in a blanket for the…
At the Forney Museum of Transportation, just off of Interstate 70, the vehicular menagerie runs the gamut from toys to massive steam locomotives. The one-of-a-kind collection isn't just for gearheads; anyone who's traveled will find a compelling mode…
Cowboys and American Indians abound in downtown’s American Museum of Western Art – The Anschutz Collection (AMWA), where more than 300 paintings depicting Western life from the 1820s to today are on display. That two-century span translates to a wide…
Slaves of the Silver Serpent might sound like a heavy metal band, but they weren't an opening act for Black Sabbath in 1973. The group was actually a secretive fraternal club that emerged in Denver in the wake of the Silver Crash of 1893. To boost…
A breeze stirs the tall prairie grasses, gulls soar overhead, the low sun warms the landscape’s rocky outcroppings, and a not too distant ow-ow-owwwwwww rings out—a single wolf song that soon becomes a chorus of howls. This is the scene as you step…
Denver’s Phamaly Theatre Company has persevered and triumphed like its cast of performers. Its mission for nearly three decades has been to produce extraordinary theater and transform both the lives of actors with disabilities on the stage and people in the audience. Phamaly (pronounced “family”)…
The Mile High City is fortunate to have its very own Craft Skiery TM . To observe skis being handcrafted, purchase a pair, quaff a local craft brew and order up a sweet tune for any brand of equipment, head straight for Meier Skis at 970 Yuma St. near downtown and Interstate 25. Part of Colorado’s…
When you think of Western art, you probably think of sweeping mountain vistas by painters like Thomas Moran and Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington's bronze statues of bucking broncos or Georgia O’Keeffe’s color-drenched southwestern landscapes. But Colorado has a rich artistic tradition that…
On the northeastern edge of Denver, a masked bandit is plotting a midnight raid. It’s no ninja, but a black-footed ferret — until recently one of the most endangered species in the West — in search of its next meal. Prairie dogs, beware. This struggle is playing out within sight of downtown and the…
There is much to dazzle the eyes in the Colorado State Capitol — intricate stained glass, towering columns, gilded crown molding, gleaming brass chandeliers and, of course, the gold dome atop it all. Surprisingly, one of the building’s most striking features is one you can walk right up to and…
