Colorado State Capitol

The Colorado State Capitol is downtown's anchor and one of the best free things to do in Denver. Built from Colorado granite in the late nineteenth century and crowned with a dome sheathed in real gold leaf, a tribute to the mining rush that founded the city, it rises at the top of Civic Center Park with the Denver Art Museum, the Central Library and the City and County Building around it. Inside, the corridors are lined with Colorado rose onyx, a rare stone that was quarried for the building, and the rotunda's stained glass and murals tell the story of the state's early years. Outside, the west steps carry a famous detail: engraved markers indicating the elevation of one mile above sea level, which every visitor photographs. The Capitol offers free public guided tours on the hour on weekdays, beginning in the morning and finishing mid-afternoon. They are first come, first served for individuals, limited to thirty people, and include the dome observation area, reached by a 99-step climb from the third floor that rewards you with a panoramic view across downtown to the mountains. The dome is open only on guided tours. Those who cannot manage the stairs can watch a captioned video near the third-floor elevators instead. Check in at the Visitor Information Desk on the first floor before your tour. When the legislature is in session, early in the year, you can also watch the chambers at work from the public galleries.

The building is a lesson in Colorado ambition. When the state joined the union in 1876, its leaders wanted a statehouse to rival those back East, and construction ran through the 1880s and 1890s using materials from across the state: granite for the walls, marble for the floors, and rose onyx, so rare that the supply was largely exhausted by the project. The original copper dome was gilded in 1908 with gold leaf donated by Colorado miners, and it has been regilded several times since. Inside, look for the stained-glass portraits of figures who shaped Colorado, the murals and poetry around the rotunda describing the importance of water in the West, and the chambers of the House and Senate.

The mile-high markers are the Capitol's most popular trivia. Surveyors originally marked an elevation step on the west side; later, more precise measurements found the true mile-high point a few steps higher, so the stairs now record more than one marker. Stand on them for the photo, then turn around for the view west across Civic Center Park toward the mountains. The best way to see everything is the free guided tour: guides cover the architecture, the legislature, and the stories behind the art, and the tour ends with the climb to the dome, where an outdoor walkway circles below the gold and offers one of the best panoramas in the city.

Plan around the schedule. Tours run on the hour on weekdays, with the first in the morning and the last in mid-afternoon, and are unavailable on holidays and certain other dates listed on the official site. Arrive early on busy days because tours cap at thirty people. Security screening is required at the entrance. Afterward, walk south through Civic Center Park to the Denver Art Museum, or west along the park to the City and County Building, which is lit up spectacularly for the holidays.