The Adventuring Mines Exchange Student TOP NO-FLY TRAVEL DESTINATIONS

For exciting exploration in and the neighboring states Metro Area

Downtown Denver Around Golden 16 Mi, 22 min drive A walk or a short drive No car is necessary to explore Colorado's largest city center! You can There are many sites and drive or take the LightRail directly from Golden the heart of Denver, opportunities for both indoor and Union Station, to enjoy all the sights, restaurants, bars, clubs, and outdoor activities right in Mines' sports the city has to offer! backyard! Red Rocks Park & Ampitheater 10 Mi, 20 min drive Red Rocks is a nature park filled with hiking trails as well as a famous open-air amphitheater built into the rock structure. Thousands of bands and artists have played there, including the Beatles.

16th Street Mall 16 Mi, 22 min drive The is a 1.25 mile long pedestrian mall, and is the main thoroughfare through . It's a hub of restaurants, bars, shopping, and The Coors Brewery entertainment, and connects Union Station to Capitol Hill. Walking distance from Mines Colorado is home to hundreds of breweries, the most famous of which is The right here in Golden! Tour the Coors Brewery and sample fresh beers. 17.8 Mi, 23 min drive The Denver Zoo is an 80-acre zoological garden, founded in 1896. It Clear Creek is home to hundreds of species, Walking distance from Mines including the largest herd of male Clear Creek runs through the heart of Asian elephants in North America. Golden, providing the opportunity to tube and kayak right through the city! Walking Museums trails can be found along the banks. Within Downtown Denver Washington Ave. Downtown Denver is home to many renowned museums including the Denver Walking Distance from Mines The hub of restaurants and businesses in Art Museum, the Denver Museum of Nature Golden, Washington Ave is a great place and Science, the Money Museum, the to start your exploration of Golden! Museum of Contemporary Art, the , and many more. The Table Mountains 5-15 min drive other highlights North and South Table Mountain provide Denver has so much to offer including the , some of the best and closest hiking trails , the , the Colorado Capitol Building, Elitch to Golden, and have a great view of the Gardens, the Downtown Aquarium, and more! Mines campus from the top!

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Ski Explore

Colorado has 26 ski areas all Colorado is known for skiing, but there are so many other things to over the Rocky Mountains. do both in the city of Denver and elsewhere! Golden is in the foothills, a short drive from the slopes! Garden of the Gods For First-Time Skiers 79.9 Mi, 1 hr 26 min drive Garden of the Gods is one of the most Echo Mountain spectacular evidences of 300 million years of 27 Mi, 43 min drive geological history. Combining massive rock Echo Mountain is close to Golden, formations, woodlands, and mountain forest. tiny, really affordable, and perfect for Explore by hiking, biking, rock climbing, or even first-time and beginner skiers! horseback riding. Copper Mountain The Royal Gorge 69 Mi, 1 hr 20 min drive 139 Mi, 2 hr 30 min drive Copper is one of the closest and best The Royal Gorge is home to the highest ski areas to Golden. The Mines ORC sells discounted lift passes to Copper suspension bridge in America at 956 ft along with their rental ski gear! above the canyon floor. An amusement park along the edge and a scenic Arapahoe Basin railroad will fill your day! 55 Mi, 1 hr 8 min drive A-Basin is one of the most popular ski Glenwood Springs destinations for Mines students due 148 Mi, 2 hr 30 min drive to it's proximity to Golden and its Take a day trip to this resort city relatively cheap lift tickets. known for its huge natural hot springs, underground caves, and wildlife. The area also features Hanging Lake, one of CO's natural wonders. Other Highlights Estes Park- 57 Mi, 1 hr 20 min A charming mountain town in Rocky Mountain National Park, also Breckenridge home to the haunted Stanley Hotel. 72 Mi, 1 hr 30 min drive Mesa Verde- 383 Mi, 7 hr 11 min Breckenridge is slightly further away Known for its well-preserved Ancestral Pueblo-an cliff dwellings which and more expensive, but it provides exhibits ancient Native American culture. the classic CO experience and is perfect for a ski weekend so you can Great Sand Dunes- 217 Mi, 3 hr 50 min enjoy the restaurants and bars the Hike, explore, and sled down the massive sand dunes! charming town has to offer. Colorado Passtimes The Mines ORC Hike- Hiking trails can be found all over CO, even within Golden! The Mines Outdoor Recreation Center Backpack & Camp- Take a weekend to explore the wilderness! (ORC) is your on-campus resource for Golden & Denver are home to some of the country's best maps, advice, and rental equipment Eat & Drink- for outdoor activities including skiing, breweries & restaurants! snowboarding, snowshoeing, camping, Cross-country Ski- Get your exercise & avoid the crowded slopes! and more! There is also a bike repair Enjoy the snow with no training or experience necessary! shop open to use! Snowshoe-

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Moab Salt Lake City The National Parks 346 Mi, 5 hr 23 min drive 526 Mi, 8 hr drive Range from 5-8 hr drives A city in southeastern Utah known The biggest city in Utah, Salt Lake Utah is home to the "Mighty 5" for its dramatic red rock is known for its backdrop of National Parks: Canyonlands, formations. It's to the dramatic mountains. It boasts an Arches, Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Arches and the Canyonlands eclectic mix of architecture and a Capitol Reef. Explore all Utah has National Parks, and is perfect for budding food scene, a great stop to offer through it's many the outdoor adventurer! on any roadtrip. distinctive landscapes!

Arizona

The Grand Canyon Tuscon & Seguaro National Park Antelope Canyon 648 Mi, 10 hr 16 min drive 906 Mi, 13 hr drive 619 Mi, 9 hr 47 min drive The famous Grand Canyon, formed One of the biggest cities in AZ, and A slot canyon on Navajo land in with 350 days of sunshine per year, by the Colorado River cutting into Northern Arizona, Antelope colorful rock, is a mile deep and up Visit the giant Seguaro cacti, native Canyon is most beautiful as seen to 18 miles wide. Step out onto the to the Arizona desert, which grow from inside. Take a tour of the glass skywalk to look straight down up to 80 ft tall and view ancient dramatic cavern-like canyon floor. to the canyon floor. petroglyphs.

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Carlsbad Caverns Santa Fe White sands national Park 615 Mi, 9 hr 25 min drive 402 Mi, 6 hr drive 574 Mi, 8 hr 57 min drive Carlsbad features over 100 caves, One of the oldest cities in the A 275 sq. mi field on white huge underground caverns, and western US, and founded in 1601 as sand dunes made of gypsum millions of stalactites. Walk a Spanish colony, Santa Fe is the crystals, White Sands is one-of- through the caves, and, at sunrise capital of New Mexico. It's known and sunset, watch the Carlsbad for it's pueblo-style architecture a-kind. Explore and sled down bats fly. and creative arts scene. massive dunes!

Wyoming

Old Faithful & Prismatic Springs Jackson Hole Grand Teton National Park 555 Mi, 9 hr 30 min drive 519 Mi, 8 hr drive 486 Mi, 7 hr 45 min drive Situated in a corner of Yellowstone Home to 3 ski areas, tall peaks, Grand Teton is filled with National Park, Old Faithful is a and beautiful scenery, Jackson opportunities to see beautiful cone geyser that has erupted every Hole is the gateway to 3 national lakes, interesting wildlife like 44 minutes for the last 20 years. parks. It's a great place to spend Buffalo, and learn about native The Grand Prismatic Spring is the a weekend in any season! culture. 3rd largest hot spring in the world.

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Billings Glacier National Park Red Lodge 562 Mi, 8 hr drive 926 Mi, 14 hr drive 563 Mi, 8 hr 25 min drive Rock climb and mountain bike Glacier National Park is 1,583 sq-mi Red Lodge is the gateway to on the "rims", the sandstone cliffs of wilderness area filled with Yellowstone National Park, and that surround the city! Billings hiking trails and glacier-carved is the best place to ski like a was also voted the Best Town in peaks and valleys running to the native Montanan (for 1/2 the 2016 by Ouside Magazine. Canadian border. Explore and see diverse landscapes and wildlife. price of the CO ski areas!).

South Dakota Kansas Nebraska

Mt. Rushmore Strataca Fort Robinson 373 Mi, 5 hr 50 min drive 484 Mi, 7 hr drive 563 Mi, 8 hr 25 min drive Mt. Rushmore National Memorial is a Drive through the wide open prairie One of the great historic places of massive carved sculpture in the Black of Kansas, then go underneath to the American West, the post began Hills which was finished in 1941. It features 60-ft high granite faces explore the Strataca Underground in 1874 as a temporary depicting 4 U,S, presidents: George Salt Mine. Delve 650 ft underground encampment during the Indian Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore to tour one of the world's largest Wars. Experience the history from Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. deposits of rock salt. the frontier days through WWII.

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