Since 1912 the city of Denver has owned parks in the mountains west of the city limits. Today there are 22 developed parks and 24 conservation parks comprising 14,141 acres in the Denver Mountain Parks system. From Genesee to Red Rocks to Echo Lake, parks large and small have invited urban visitors seeking relaxation in the mountains for over a century. Most visitors don't even realize these parks belong to Denver, but without these parks, many scenic mountain ridges would be covered with subdivisions today. Author Mike Butler has explored all 22 developed parks and created this guide to help...

Rising up to 13,623 feet above the plains, the twin Spanish Peaks in southern Colorado have been a beacon to travelers for centuries. Native Americans from the Comanche and Ute tribes pitched their teepees in the lush river valleys around the mountains. Spanish explorers from Mexico followed legends of gold here. Migrants on the Santa Fe Trail sighted the peaks at the end of their long trek across the Great Plains. Coal mining and railroads brought a new wave of settlers to the region in the 1870s. Today, visitors head to Walsenburg, La Veta, and Cuchara to enjoy the incredible mountain...

In 1858, gold was discovered where Little Dry Creek joins the South Platte River, four miles north of what is today Littleton. After the initial rush of gold-seekers, agriculture sustained growth when the gold deposits played out. In 1861, Richard S. Little filed claims for agricultural land along the South Platte River in what would become Littleton. Little was not only a farmer but a land developer, and he filed his plat at the Arapahoe County Courthouse in 1872 for streets and homes on his property. When the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad built south from Denver through Littleton in 1871,...