16th Street Mall Ride
Called the MallRide, this free hybrid vehicle scoots up and down the 16-block tree-lined retail core of downtown Denver, also home to hotels, restaurants, office buildings, residences and public spaces. Hop on at any intersection on 16th Street between Civic Center Station at Broadway near the Colorado State Capitol and Denver Union Station on the west end. A few short blocks from the mall get you to the Denver Performing Arts Complex, Colorado Convention Center, Larimer Square, Coors Field and LoDo (Lower Downtown). You can also access light rail and make connections for buses throughout the metro area and to Boulder, Golden, Longmont and Denver International Airport.
The MallRide runs seven days a week beginning at 4:59 a.m. on weekdays, 5:30 a.m. on Saturdays and 6:30 a.m. on Sundays/holidays. Service continues throughout the day with the last complete round trip of the night starting out at 1:19 a.m. from Union Station to Civic Center Station.
Bike
As one of the country's fittest cities, it’s no surprise that a web of dedicated bike paths weaves through Denver and its edges. You can, for example, ride from Cherry Creek State Park in southeast Denver to Cuernavaca Park on the northwest side of downtown. The 15-mile paved path follows along Cherry Creek to where it meets the South Platte River at Confluence Park. In fact, there are approximately 85 miles of paved urban bike trails in metro Denver.
Denver launched a new bike and scooter share program with Lyft and Lime in May 2021. As part of the agreement, up to 675 parking stations will be installed over the next five years, and each company will deploy a maximum of 1,500 electric scooters and supply bikes at a rate of 20 percent of their scooter fleet, so 1,500 scooters translates into 300 bikes for cruising around the city.
Some hotels like Kimpton Hotel Monaco Denver and Halcyon, a hotel in Cherry Creek provide complimentary bicycles to guests. For those who want to try out an electric bike, FattE-Bikes is Denver’s first electric bike manufacturer, one born right in the city with all bikes built in the USA. Rent one of three models for three hours, six hours, all day or longer. Cruise effortlessly around the city and enjoy the hundreds of miles of bike paths and dedicated lanes.
Another great option is renting e-bikes and taking a guided tour with Pedego Denver Electric Bike Sales & Tours, located across the street from Empower Field at Mile High near the South Platte River bike path.
If your preference is doing all of the pedaling on your own, Mile High Bike Tours offers a downtown Denver tour that follows riverside paths, city bike lanes and neighborhood streets over a distance of about 10 miles. This guided 2.5-hour tour highlights historic and public buildings, architecture, professional sports stadiums, public art installations, parks and outdoor venues. The Bike and Brew Tour includes all the same sights and attractions as the Denver City Tour as well RiNo at the end, where guides take cyclists past numerous breweries and through colorful alleys adorned with murals and graffiti. This excursion ends with craft beer sampling at one of the breweries.
If motorized, Vespa-style scooter rentals and tours are more your style, ScooTours Denver located downtown near the Colorado Convention Center is your place. A scootorial, helmet, goggles, insurance and gas are provided for either scenario. On a three-hour city tour, the excursion begins at the huge Blue Bear sculpture at the Colorado Convention Center and covers history, architecture, attractions, people, public art, graffiti and more.
Pedi-cabs
Rickshaws, pedal-cabs, bike-taxis … no matter what you call them, these mountain bike-style tricycles pulling passenger cabs are the slickest way to get around downtown and Lower Downtown (LoDo), especially on game days. Mile High Pedicabs is the oldest fleet, starting in 1988. Most Mile High drivers pedal for tips (or $2 per city block). Or make it a tour and learn about the city with guides from Denver Pedicabs who will pedal you across town or to an event.
