Date Night Ideas in Denver

Setup.A weekday, shoes you can climb in, and a light jacket for the deck. The Colorado State Capitol is at 200 East Colfax Avenue and runs free tours Monday through Friday; check the tour schedule and dome access before you go.

1. Join a free tour; walk ins are welcome. Look for the rose onyx stone and the portraits of every US president lining the halls.
2. Climb the 99 step spiral staircase to the open air deck. Take turns pointing out the peaks and neighborhoods you each know best.
3. Head out the west entrance and hunt down all three mile markers: the engraved 15th step, the 1969 marker on the 18th, and the 13th step that a 2003 survey picked as the true mile.
4. If it is late afternoon, sit on the west steps a while and watch the light go down behind the Rockies.

Talk about:If you could carve one sentence into a step for strangers to stand on, what would it say?

Setup.Check the Denver Astronomical Society events calendar for the next free open house or mini star party, and check the listing for whether you need to register. The observatory is at 2930 East Warren Avenue. Bring a warm layer for standing on the lawn after dark.

1. Arrive around sundown and walk a slow lap of Observatory Park while the sky darkens.
2. Get in line for the big refractor. The telescope is 28 feet long, so look up at it before you look into it.
3. While you wait, visit the telescopes club members set up on the south lawn and ask what each one is pointed at.
4. Walk back out under the same sky and each name the one thing you saw that you want to remember.

Talk about:What did you used to stare up at as a kid and wonder about?

Setup.A car, binoculars, a thermos, and an early alarm. Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is free and open from sunrise; check hours before you go, since closing time shifts with the season and sections can close on short notice.

1. Get there early. Stop at the visitor center if it is open that day, or head straight for the Wildlife Drive.
2. Drive the 11 mile loop slowly with the audio tour playing. When the bison are near, stay in the car; that is the refuge rule.
3. Park and stretch your legs on the Lake Mary loop with its boardwalk and piers, or the one mile Discovery Trail.
4. Crown a winner for best sighting of the morning: bison, deer, hawk, coyote or prairie dog.

Talk about:If you could spend one afternoon as any animal we saw today, which one, and what would you do with it?

Setup.Two bikes, a lock, water, sunscreen and a packed lunch. On foot, pick a shorter turnaround point instead.

1. Start at Confluence Park, where Cherry Creek meets the South Platte.
2. Drop onto the Cherry Creek Trail and follow the creek southeast, below Speer Boulevard and away from the cars.
3. Ride on to Four Mile Historic Park. If it is open, go in: admission covers a tour of the 1859 Four Mile House, once a stage stop, wayside inn and tavern, plus the farm animals and gardens.
4. Find a spot by the creek for your lunch, then turn around and ride back toward downtown.

Talk about:If we had pulled up to Four Mile House in 1859, where do you think we would have been heading?

Setup.A gray day and no plans after. The museum is at 1250 Bannock Street; adults pay a modest admission and anyone 17 and under gets in free. It is closed Mondays, so check hours before you go.

1. Split up for twenty minutes. Each of you finds the one canvas you would hang at home, then bring the other to it.
2. Find the visible painting storage and the conservation lab, where you can see how the collection is looked after.
3. If the rain lets up, step out onto one of the two outdoor terraces.
4. Walk to the Central Library at 10 West 14th Avenue Parkway, the Michael Graves building. Say hello to The Yearling, the pony on a giant red chair outside, then head up to the circular Reading Room on the fifth floor, home of the library's Special Collections and Archives.

Talk about:If you had to leave everything you ever made to one city, which city, and what would you make it promise?

Setup.A blanket, a warm layer for after the sun goes, and a snack. Check the sunset time and aim to reach Confluence Park about an hour before it.

1. Start at Confluence Park, where Cherry Creek meets the South Platte and where a party of prospectors began searching for gold in 1858, the search that led to Denver. If kayakers are out on the chutes, watch them for a few minutes.
2. Walk downstream along the river into Commons Park, past the reconstructed sand prairie of native plants that covers a big share of the park.
3. Climb the hill, spread the blanket, and watch the sun set over the Front Range.
4. On the way out, stop for a quiet minute at The Grove, the AIDS memorial in the park, dedicated in 2000.

Talk about:What is one thing about living here that you did not expect to love?

Setup.A beach with a surf school. Reef-safe sunscreen, swimwear, a change of clothes.

1. Group lesson on land first, listen carefully.
2. Whitewater only, do not chase real waves first time.
3. Lunch at the beach café afterwards.

Setup.A farm-to-table restaurant within driving range. Booking essential.

1. Drive out late morning.
2. Order whatever the chef recommends.
3. Walk the farm or grounds afterwards.

Setup.A wine region within driving distance. Designated driver or a tour shuttle. Light lunch booked at one cellar door.

1. Visit three vineyards. Buy one bottle from each.
2. Long lunch at the middle cellar door.
3. Walk between the buildings of the vineyard, slowly.
4. Drive home before sunset.

Setup.A real diner, booths, vinyl seats, a paper menu. Cash or card.

1. Sit in a booth, not at the counter.
2. Order one savoury and one sweet to share.
3. Stay through three coffee refills.
4. Tip 20%.

Setup.A small/microbrewery. Most run flights for under $20.

1. Order the flight, not your usual style.
2. Score on smell, taste, finish.
3. Ask one staff member how they got into brewing.
4. Leave with one growler or bottle.

Setup.A renowned BBQ joint. Get there early, the good stuff sells out.

1. Order one of every meat, sharing is the whole game.
2. Skip the chairs if there is a queue. Take it to a park.
3. Walk for at least 30 minutes after.

Setup.A pick-your-own orchard within an hour's drive. Autumn weekends.

1. Go early to skip the queue.
2. Pick more than you think, they keep.
3. Cider doughnut and hot apple cider before driving home.

Setup.A pair of indie record shops. A budget, one record each, no more.

1. Each picks one record for the other based on cover and sleeve only.
2. Reveal at the till of the second shop.
3. Buy them. Walk home.
4. Listen to both end-to-end that evening, in order.

Setup.A 2-player game neither of you owns. Watch a 90-second "how to play" before buying.

1. Unbox everything before opening the rulebook.
2. Read rules out loud, taking turns by paragraph.
3. Play one round badly. Reset. Play properly.
4. Make notes for next time on a sticky note in the box.

Setup.A frisbee (₹200 / $5). A park with open grass. Water bottle.

1. Stand 10 metres apart. Try to throw flat.
2. Each time someone misses, take three steps back.
3. Stop at "we are very far apart". Sit on the grass.
4. Walk back together holding hands and the disc.

Setup.Twenty slips of paper, a bowl. Optional: drinks. Lights low.

1. Each writes 10 truths and 5 dares, fold and pool.
2. Take turns drawing. Truth is mandatory; dare is optional but costs you the next round.
3. No follow-up questions until the round is done.
4. Burn or shred the slips at the end.

Setup.A pack of 10 postcards, stamps, two pens. A list of people you have not written to in years.

1. Each picks five names. Write five postcards each.
2. Read one of yours out loud halfway in, then keep going.
3. Walk to the post box together to post them.
4. Tell each other who you wrote to and why.