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Denver is an outdoor lover's paradise with one of the largest city park systems in the United States and has easy access to the Rocky Mountains. Some of the country's leading adaptive programs are based in Colorado and offer every type of outdoor sport you can imagine from rock climbing to kayaking. There are plenty of adaptive golf and fishing opportunities around the metro area. In the wintertime, various world-class ski resorts offer exciting ways to experience the famous pristine powder.
The City of Denver is expanding its adaptive golf program by improving the SoloRider fleet and adding VertaCat mobility carts in 2024. Reservations are available at several golf courses.
Staunton State Park in Pine (less than an hour from Denver) offers visitors with limited mobility to explore designated trails in the park via the innovative Trackchair program. Experience high grassy meadows, a wide variety of wildlife, and geological and water features from the seat of an all-terrain wheelchair. The trails offer spectacular views of Pikes Peak, Lions Head and Mount Rosalie.
Adventures Out West is known for its off-road Jeep tours. But the company also offers ziplining and says that it has accommodated those with low vision and hearing impairments. Those with prosthetic legs should be able to walk the zipline course as long as they can climb stairs. They can't, however, accommodate those in wheelchairs because there are short hikes between ziplines.
The National Sports Center for the Disabled offers tons of activities such as sailing, therapeutic horseback riding, mountain biking, shooting sports and camping along with special programs for military veterans. If you're interested specifically in climbing, Paradox Sports has you covered. The Boulder-based nonprofit has year-round climbing opportunities in the Front Range area.
Adaptive Adventures offers programs in every type of adventure you can imagine from kayaking to rock climbing. Although they offer programs throughout the country, they are headquartered near Denver and offer lots of events and activities in Colorado. Check out the calendar.
When it's playtime, Nature Play in City Park offers a unique 4-acre immersive experience that adds natural history themes found inside the museum at the nearby Denver Museum of Nature & Science. And LuBird's Light accessible playground at Stanley Marketplace is a one-of-a-kind inclusive experience with 9,000 square feet of space. It features accessible swings, spinners and slides, plus musical sensory play equipment and smooth barrier-free surfacing.
The Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center has been around since 1976 and offers a host of summer programs in the mountains such as whitewater rafting, rock climbing, hiking, cycling, canoeing, camping and an accessible high ropes course. Paralympic star Amy Purdy co-founded Adaptive Action Sports, which offers mountain biking and skateboarding courses at various ski resorts in the summertime.
Denver has nearly 20,000 acres of city and mountain parkland and more than 250 individual urban parks. Some of the standouts are City Park where you'll find Denver Zoo and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, while Washington Park has 155 acres of pleasant grounds including two lakes and two flower gardens, one of which is a replica of George Washington's gardens at Mount Vernon.
Just south of City Park, you'll find the spectacular 24 acres that make up Denver Botanic Gardens. As you follow the winding paths through the grounds, you'll discover no less than 32,000 diverse and delightful plants from such faraway places as Australia, Africa and the Himalayas. There are dozens of gardens to enjoy, including the internationally recognized Japanese Garden. Most of the indoor and outdoor gardens and facilities, including restrooms and classrooms, are wheelchair accessible. Sensory Processing and Autism Resource Kits (SPARK) are available at no charge on a first-come, first-served basis in the Helen Fowler Library in the Freyer – Newman Center.
Boulder County, not far from Denver, also has tons of open space and mountain parkland. The website provides helpful links to videos and trail guides.
Blake Street Pedicabs and Denver Pedicabs provide a great way to get some fresh air, see the city and let someone else do the pedaling. The comfortable seats are great for those with limited mobility.
See some spectacular scenery that only a train ride can provide by traveling from Denver to Glenwood Springs, Colorado, to Moab, Utah, on the Rocky Mountaineer. You'll go through Ruby Canyon, see Mount Logan and cross the Continental Divide and see deserts, arches and hoodoos. The train runs from April to October. The rail service offers a host of options for those with disabilities.
Journey back in time with a ride on one of Colorado's great narrow-gauge railroads, the Georgetown Loop. See the astounding Devil's Gate High Bridge and take in the Rocky Mountain views. Some of the cars on the train are wheelchair accessible, however, the mine tours are not due to the steep and rough terrain. Groups with more than one wheelchair are encouraged to call group reservations in advance.
Take an authentic 45-minute steam locomotive ride on the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad that chugs its way through the old Cripple Creek gold mining district. The staff is happy to assist with wheelchair accommodation.
The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway is the highest cog railway in the world and it has carried passengers to the summit of Pikes Peak since 1891. The train has limited ADA-accessible seating. Call the ticket office in advance to reserve storage space for wheelchairs or walkers.
Considered by many to be the most spectacular stretch of rail in America, the Royal Gorge Route Railroad offers the best experience of the Royal Gorge on a breathtaking, two- or three-hour scenic and historic train ride on the most famous portion of the former Denver & Rio Grande Western train line. The tracks cling to a narrow ledge while the canyon walls rise 2,000 feet straight above. Call the call reservations staff if you have a wheelchair (24-inch maximum at base), walker or difficulty climbing stairs.
The Denver metro area has many lakes and accessible fishing opportunities. Some of the standouts are Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and Staunton State Park. Boulder County also has some great lakes, ponds and creeks with easy access such as Boulder Reservoir, Teller Farm South, Sawhill Ponds, Coot Lake, South Boulder Creek and Wonderland Lake. You'll find bass, bluegill and sunfish in the still water and trout in the creeks.
And the Wilderness On Wheels Foundation offers a one-mile boardwalk that rises to 9,000 feet in elevation. The 8-foot boardwalk follows a meandering trout stream with plenty of spots to see wildlife. If you want to stay overnight, you can rent cabins, huts and tent sites. The foundation is located in Grant, Colorado, about an hour from Denver.
Colorado is famous for its pristine powder at various world-class ski resorts. The resorts also have some equally impressive adaptive sports programs.
For a truly unique and stunningly scenic experience, you can take the Winter Park Express "ski train" from Denver Union Station to Winter Park Resort, which is home to the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD). The NSCD is a world leader in adaptive sports programs. NSCD's adaptive ski school offers a variety of private and group lessons in adaptive alpine and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, ski biking, and snowshoeing.
The Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center offers programs in alpine and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and ski biking at Breckenridge Ski Resort, Keystone Ski Resort, Copper Mountain and Arapahoe Basin.
Adaptive Action Sports offers a high-performance snowboarding program at Copper Mountain. Ignite Adaptive Sports at Eldora Mountain offers training in alpine and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, ski biking and snowshoeing.
We're always happy to receive feedback. If you know of a program, activity or business that you think should be featured in our accessibility guide, please drop us a line at tourism@visitdenver.com.
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