Hi, Bucket List readers! My name is Allie Blum, and I’m a writer, graduate student and marketer based in our fair Queen City. I arrived here by way of Philadelphia (born and raised) and New Orleans, where I spent my undergraduate and post-college years.
I moved to Denver at the end of 2020, having never touched a pair of skis in my life. I was hopeful that I could pick up the sport and join friends in an activity that seemed to be pervasively woven into the cultural fabric of Colorado, particularly among the transplant communities of which I was a part.
I took two lessons in the winter of 2022, nearing 27 years of age, and quickly became deterred.
I’m not one to seek bodily thrills, and yet, flying down the side of the mountain triggered an anxiety in me that I didn’t anticipate. With the financial, geographical and emotional hurdles I’d have to climb in order to become an adept skier—my standards for “adept” are pretty low: make it down a green run in one piece—I ultimately decided that downhill winter sports are not for me.
I’m okay with that decision, because Denver and its surroundings offer plenty to do in the winter, even for non-skiers and snowboarders. Going on my fifth Colorado winter, I’ve developed a guide of winter activities for non-skiers and snowboarders in Denver to maximize snow season in the city.
Reading is My Winter Sport
Summer may be the season of beach reads, but there’s nothing like snuggling up with a good book in winter. Around Denver, there are many beautiful, accessible, bookish places to enjoy the literary arts if you’re looking to read outside of the home.
Newly renovated and reopened, the Denver Central Library is a 540,000-square-foot book castle that offers a plethora of brand-new reading spaces, including a new teen library and 15 reservable study rooms if you’re looking to do more focused work.
I volunteered at the grand re-opening of the Central Library in November, and it was the most joyous day I’ve experienced in Denver in my four years as a resident here. In addition to being massive and full of books, the space is warm, inviting and makes me feel proud to call Denver home. The Central Library is currently closed on Fridays and Saturdays, but operating hours are expected to expand. If you don’t already have a library card, go to your nearest branch and get one—there’s so much you can do with it!
Shop at MATTER was one of the first Denver-area independent bookstores I visited when I moved here. The store’s collection is intentionally curated, elevating stories written by authors of often marginalized backgrounds. In addition to books, Shop at MATTER sells an array of gifts and design materials.
Co-owners Rick Griffith and Deborah Johnson are designers by trade, and MATTER’s design studio is next door to the bookshop in the Ballpark Area. Shop at MATTER hosts silent book clubs on the second Saturday of each month, and when book clubs aren’t in session, there is a community table for store shoppers to comfortably sit and read. Â
The Santa Fe Drive bookstore and flower shop Petals & Pages opened its doors in 2023 and quickly became an inclusive community space. As a Baker resident, I was eager for Petals & Pages to open—it’s just over a mile away from my house, an enjoyable 25-minute walk on a nice day.
I’ve since frequented the book and floral purveyor several times and especially love visiting during First Fridays on Santa Fe when the store stays open late and is teeming with patrons meandering along the gallery-lined street. Among the store’s monthly slate of events are cozy read-a-thons and writers’ workshops in the “Writer’s Corner” of the bookstore. Follow @petalsandpagesofdenver on Instagram for updates.
Enjoy Culture at a Denver Museum
If you find yourself reading or hanging out at the Denver Central Library, hop across the street to the Denver Art Museum (DAM). As one of the largest art museums between Chicago and the West Coast, you could spend several hours—if not the whole day—at DAM.
Some of my favorite exhibits I’ve viewed at DAM featured the photographic works of Georgia O’Keeffe, depictions of La Malinche and Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo’s “Souls of Black Folk,” whose name was derived from the W. E. B. Du Bois classic work of literature. I never tire of the museum’s modern and pop art collection, spanning the third and fourth floors of the Hamilton Building.
I’m very eager to see DAM’s current special exhibit on Maurice Sendak’s timeless children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are,” which is on display through February 17, 2025. DAM offers free admission days on Tuesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughout the year and is always free for youth 18 and under. Check here for an updated list of free days in 2025.
Other downtown Denver museums offering winter refuge include History Colorado and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). When the history nerd in me needs to be satisfied, I love going to History Colorado, and a trip to MCA always excites me because of its inspiring rotating exhibits and dense gift shop, which tempts me to buy a funky pair of earrings or a beautifully crafted incense holder.
Youth 18 and under can always visit History Colorado and MCA for free. MCA provides free admission to SNAP recipients, discounted tickets for students and “Penny Saturday” admission for Colorado residents on the first Saturday of each month.
Keep Warm with Coffee (or Beer)
Denver’s coffee shop scene is robust. According to Clever Real Estate, Denver has 63% more coffee shops per capita than the average American city (at 20.5 cafes per every 100,000 residents), coming in at number four on the company’s Best Coffee Cities 2024 list. Winter is the perfect time to explore Denver coffee.
If you like to stay warm with a cold beer, winter in Denver is also for you. Moving company Move.org ranked Denver the second-best city for beer lovers in 2021. Look no further than Colorado Brewery List’s Denver map for a comprehensive list of Denver’s 70 breweries and 12 taprooms as your guide for exploring Denver’s brewery scene.
My personal favorite Denver brewery, regardless of season (though the summer patio is nice), is Cerebral Brewing’s Congress Park taproom. Congress Park was the first neighborhood I called home in Denver, and I’d often walk to the brewery with friends or bring out-of-town guests there. Aside from my own nostalgia, the beer is definitely good (their House Pale Ale, Muscle Memory, won silver in the Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale category at the 2023 World Beer Cup), and the atmosphere is always enjoyable.
What if you don’t like making choices and want coffee and beer from the same place? Baker’s Novel Strand Brewing Company serves coffee in the morning and beer in the afternoon for those who equally appreciate a hot coffee and a cold beer. Novel Strand feels like an extension of my living room (and not just because it’s a five-minute walk from my house, though that does help); the space is small but not cramped, and the exposed brick makes the room feel extra cozy.
The brewery-coffee shop serves as a third space to Baker residents like me and the broader Denver community with programs like a weekly run club, monthly book club and Game Night on Sundays—10% off for patrons who bring their own board games! Run club and book club often sadly conflict with my graduate school classes, but I have enjoyed my fair share of Game Nights. You can view a calendar of happenings at Novel Strand to stay up-to-date.  Â
Try a Non-Downhill Winter Sport
There are several winter sports and activities to enjoy in and near Denver that don’t require slogging through I-70 traffic or descending down the side of an 8,000-foot-tall mountain. Denver Parks & Recreation offers several discounted winter sport outings, including snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and ice skating excursions.
Browse the winter 2025 program catalog and sign up quickly, as some programs are already sold out. If you’re not able to attend an outing with Denver Parks & Recreation, you can try cross-country skiing just 20 miles west of Denver in Clear Creek County (though you’ll need your own gear) or join REI in Evergreen for beginner snowshoeing clinics ($69-$99, including snowshoe and pole rentals).Â
If you’re really eager to go deeper into the mountains, you can try these activities at the Frisco Nordic Center (an hour-and-a-half drive from Denver with no traffic) or the YMCA’s Snow Mountain Ranch (about an hour-and-a-half or hour-forty-five-minute drive from Denver with no traffic).
Both places offer affordable rentals for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing and beginner-friendly cross-country lessons. I’ve taken lessons at both facilities and felt much less discouraged than I did after downhill skiing lessons. I’ve also gone on a couple of snowshoeing outings and quite enjoyed them—it’s effectively like hiking in the snow if that sounds fun to you.
Want to enjoy the snow at a more leisurely pace? Hoedown Hill, which opened earlier this year in February, is a family-friendly winter park with 14 1,200-foot-long snow tubing lanes, packed with three feet of snow and groomed daily. Hoedown Hill is about an hour north of Denver in Windsor. Though you may have to deal with some traffic to get there, I-25 North is generally more pleasant than I-70 West in the winter.
Fine, You Can Even Try to Learn How to Ski…
Since 2007, Denver Parks & Recreation, with the help of Winter Park Ski Resort and a crew of volunteers, have given Denverites the gift of downhill (emphasis on hill) winter sports for free at the Ruby Hill Rail Yard.
I haven’t tried skiing at Ruby Hill Park, though my fiance, who enjoys getting dropped off by helicopter and carving down the sides of multi-thousand-foot-high mountains on a snowboard, is eager to go there with me. Maybe this winter will be the winter I try skiing at Ruby Hill, but no promises, Matt! Visit Denver Parks & Recreation for updates on the 2025 season at Ruby Hill.
While I’ve titled this guide “Winter in Denver for Non-Skiiers and Snowboarders,” it is really intended for all Denverites, regardless of sporting abilities and interests. Indeed, our proximity to the mountains (and the sun—no dreary winters here!) sets Denver apart from other cold-weather cities, but if you’re not able to get out there or simply don’t want to spend weekends sitting in traffic, there are tons of affordable and fun activities to do and places to go around town.
Whether you get out there this winter or stay inside, curled up with a good book and a mug of hot chocolate or coffee (or both!), I wish you a wonderful, fun and safe winter.
