The 12 best free attractions in Golden

A perfect place to start a visit to Golden. There is free parking on the south side, for up to two hours - fantastic. Beautiful trail, well-maintained buildings. Bikers are asked to use the south-side trail and tubers the north side trail, but people can walk on either side, and we saw no bikes. We loved it.

Nice little park. A bit of history to go along with the beautiful scenery. Hiking/biking trails on both sides of the river. Close to Downtown Golden. Shops, restaurants also close. Parking is kinda hit and miss. Some free parking for a period of time. A free parking lot close, but is closed after October 1st for snow dumping.

Came here during December and we’re extremely impressed! The park and the downtown area of Golden is super clean with a peaceful country vibe. The river walk trail was a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of the Denver area. We definitely plan on visiting here again!

Cute little history park along the Clear Creek trail. Learn a little bit about Golden as you enjoy time outside!

Cute little park. Good walking. Free exhibits to check out. Gardens and historic things to see with good information. Dogs welcome but closed and locked bathrooms? No trashcan. Why? You invite people to come and capitalize off the tourism for your whole town. Give us trashcans and open your bathroom and porta potty. And stop making excuses. Take care of your tourists.

Very nice and easy trail, great for the whole family young and old. Well maintained, paved with lots of access points to the water (some of the access are graduate sloped for easier access for mobility!) Bike is encouraged to use south bank trail while leaving North bank trail for slower pace walking. This help keeping the trail more enjoyable to all and reduce the conflicts between faster traffic with enjoying viewer. A lot of tuber launch and exit pools along the trail for summer time fun. The fall colors are very good, specially like this fall. Free parking at 10th street if you want to enjoy more than 2 hours, near by parking is free for first two hours only, so utilize the parking lot a little bit to the east on 10th street (It's less than 0.5miles from the parks. less than a hundred yard from Clear creek Trail. ) and enjoy more relaxed pace is recommended.

Love this park, especially since they have added all the new beautiful routes down to the water. It is great to see kayakers, paragliders and walkers out and about in all weather. Also love the new history 'homes' that are decorated inside and the chicken coop. Lots of fun and beauty for the family. Good running and a playground too!

Made a day trip to lookout mountain and this water park in golden. Excellent for those hot summer days to go tubing or just to soak your feet in the fresh water.

Really nice and clean you can always find a private part next to the river also good for walking

Once u pay for parking there is a little kiddie pool area to the left of the park area. Next to the statue of the kayak guy. Then there is a playground and some picnic benches. If you want to tube u must walk about half a mile on the trail and then pick a spot to safely get in water. Watch for flags and that's it!

Seems quite fun while I didn't jump in the river just walking along the river is quite relaxing and many things going on from street musicians to simply relaxing with sound of water, breeze and nature besides all the laughter going on from adults to kids. It was a nice walk, I observed some murals, some park rangers patrolling, a library, some historical buildings, a musician and many practicing or perfecting their paddle boarding skills. It was an enjoyable walk along both sides, there's slides for kids to get down instead of using the stairs. I spoke to someone and they said would definitely make sense to simply buy your tube if possible as the prices would be comparable.just FYI.

Had a great time tubing with my teenagers. Great atmosphere and fun rapids.

Close to Denver and really beautiful pathway along the nice looking trees. Rocks all around. Very beautiful walk. Highly recommend it

The perfect way to spend a day on a Colorado river! There are many entry points, so you can choose the length of your trip. People from the ages of 8 on up were tubing and paddle boarding while we were there. The walking path along the river is new and very well maintained. There are also well placed rocks, benches, and an amphitheater for you to sit while you watch others tube. There is a sign stating that there is a strictly enforced no alcohol policy and we only saw one group with beers towards sunset. This would be a great activity for any group from college friends to a family. Everyone was being safe and respectful of the space.

Very cool little museum! Free, minus $10 for all day parking. I would say good for kindergarten and up, our little guy got bored quickly. I liked how the displays were organized by region, we could really see similar minerals and colors. Kids loved the mine section and the florescent rocks.

It's the best free museum I've ever been to. I could have spent two more hours had I made it there earlier in the day. There are two levels, a fossil section, a mine shaft to walk through, and a section that explains the fracking process to a layman like me. Tons of interesting stuff.

1. I found a parking space with a meter and paid $2 per hour. There are only about 10 such spots, and otherwise you must park in the garage for $!0. 2. I didn't like the big murals showing enslaved workers in Egyptian and other times doing the hard mine work and getting beaten. It is ancient reality but is depressing. 3. I asked a young woman at the desk if she knew where a rock was that my friend donated, and she looked on a list on the computer, and said he wasn't on that list. A manager later told me they have no such lists, I have to talk to the curator, so the young woman had lied to me. The three young people working here looked compleletly uninterested in their jobs. 4. The bookstore displays book "All My Friends are Dead," which I paged through which was depressing. It is a Dark Comedy, but I never laughed or even smiled once; it was sick. It is poor that they stock and show a title like this to people. 5. The entire museum is very poorly organized, by country, and some special exhibits. The basement has meteorites, a moon rock, and dinosaur bones, which were the only memorable items. 6. I hoped to actually learn something, but instead just saw pretty colors. I was very disappointed with this museum.

This place was awesome. Free entry, clean, interesting gems and rocks from around the world and the moon. Very nice staff. Parking next door in the lot was $10+. Just a heads up.

Best mine museum I've ever been to! And free entry!! Kinda pricey for parking ($10+), but we walked there and will never look at rocks the same!!

I had to look at every single stone, display, wall thing, just all of it!! Such an amazing collection, with pieces I was so excited to see...like a huge herkier (go see it!) and so many meteorites. I will be bringing people there because this museum is a gem in itself!

Wonderful collection from all over the world and beyond. Admission is free as well as parking in designated visitor spots.

The nature center and forest loop trail was a great place to go with two little ones. The trail was a 0.5 mile loop that took us 20 mins and the nature center had lots of fun kid activities. A carpeted room with books and puppets. Plus an area with a tent and camping toys the kids could play with. Recommend for anyone looking to kill some time or take a break on a road trip. There were plenty of outdoor picnic tables and lots of parking.

Was not open when we visited. We drove to the "overlook" but there were not any views. Talked to a DNR person working and they said to go to the next exit to the parking area to see the mountains and mountain sheep grazing. We were able to do both from there

I have been too Colorado twice and have made sure to stop here both times. Breathe taking views

Great views across the street! Lovely sunset spot. Didn't get a chance to go into the center as we went too late, for the sunset.

Very quiet place. The staff is awesome. Very family friendly location for hiking and picnicking.

Beautifully maintained buildings and easy hiking trails within a short drive from Denver.

Very well done for kids and adults. Rangers very helpful and nice easy walk around the grounds. Well worth the drive up the hill.

The trail is clean and easy to walk. The attractions are cool to see and the signage helps to decipher what your looking at. Now the trail does not loop around and goes directly into the golf course so you have to just turn around. There is limited shade and no bathrooms. It's paid to park and you can do it by the hour which is nice. The whole trail can be completed within an hour without kids. If you have kids probably go for the two hour mark.

This trail is an out-and-back trail of about a half-mile. It leads to some late Cretacous impression fossils that include footprint casts of Triceratops (or potentially Torosaurus) and Tyranosaurus as well as duck-billed dinosaurs. While not nearly as spectacular as the trackways at dinosaur ridge they are worth the trip nonetheless. There are also trace fossils of palm fronds, leaves, and invertebrates. The trail does connect to the golf course, but there is no easy return to the trailhead and parkinglot from the course.

Very cool trail! It's in Golden, right off 6th and 19th. You park in the parking lot right off 6th and it's a short walk to the start of the trail. The trail itself is only half mile or so each way. You can see rain droplets, trex foot prints, triceratops footprints and leaf impressions too. The end of it is right at the golf course. Beautiful views of golden and north table. Definitely check it out!

Such a cute little trail my boyfriend and I stumbled upon! Highly recommend for a quick place to just get moving and see some cool fossils! Also saw a cute little lizard which made the walk that much better!

It's a decent walk, if you're looking to stretch your legs, but not if you're looking for any kind of a workout or an educational experience. Parking is from the paid lot adjacent to the School of Mines campus, it's about $1/hour, which is par for the area. From there, you can walk to the trailhead (~1/4 mile). The trailhead is easy to spot. The trail is an easy, short out-and-back with a few points of interest along the way, including a few imprints of possible dinosaur feet, small animals and plants as well as a clay mine, and some unique sculpture to commemorate the geological overlook. I think the trail guides overreach on the appeal of all of these points. If you take this trail for what it is - a nice walk, it's exactly that, and you'll surely have a good time.

Good down and back loop, trail is marked by gray gravel after the Blue and Green dino house. Downloadable audio tour is available. Trial zig-zags towards the golf course. Some steep areas

Very underwhelming. Has a couple of spots to stop and look at foot prints but I expected more. Park in the Mine School parking lot, parking was done through an app. The whole trail out and back was slightly less than 1 mile.

Ive been pleasantly surprised by many of the parks here is the Denver area and Matthews /Winters didn’t disappoint. It is a great park close to e475 and I70. Plenty of parking and nice trails. Moderate difficulty if you’re older like me. The trails go all way to red rocks and are very scenic. There is nice loop that is around 2 miles . Toilets are available at the trailhead

This is a nice place to take a walk, get a bit of a sweat on and enjoy some beautiful views! There isn’t much shade on the path, but there are a lot of wildflowers in the summer. Cool view of Red Rocks and Denver at the view point (not marked but fairly intuitive). Definitely bring water for the walk.

It’s a beautiful hike. Bring lots of water, watch out for bicyclists, and be aware of rattlesnakes because they love this hike. If you bring dog, please be a decent human and pick up your dog’s💩 and not leave it to bake in the sun.

A lovely trail in the wilderness. No forest. The area is My Vernon is where gold was discovered in 1859. Now no habitation. Keep water & food stuff. The trail is enjoyable & safe. There is a good bird life too.

This is a great natural area with lots of different trails with beautiful views of the red rocks amphitheater area which is conveniently located right iff of I-70

Nice trail and has accessible parking. We were only able to make it to the picnic tables in a wheelchair, which doesn’t have a great view. It did have a clean accessible bathroom, but wasn’t worth the trip because the inclines are too much for a wheelchair user.

Always a great hike, 40-45 min each way, few dogs, few runners and sometimes 1-2 bikes. The proximity to freeway makes an easy reach for most.

This trail is not as difficult as others would lead you to believe. Although there were definitely some parts where you had to scramble, I would say there were only a couple instances where it was a low class two. If you're there for hiking, you'll be fine. I can see needing trekking poles if you are hiking in winter. Otherwise this was really a wonderful hike with some fun scrambling. Be careful if you have bad hips or knees. No shade. Plan ahead. Saw tons of lizards, and really cool beetles. Can't wait to do it again!

Fun place to hike and it's dog friendly. After some snow it's especially fun but some trails might be knee deep or more. Can be pretty busy on the weekends and parking might be hard to find but weekdays are pretty easy. Beautiful views. No shade anywhere though and it will be muddy after snow melts or rain. There are bathrooms at the base.

A beautiful hike with well marked trails. You can stay on north table loop for a quick and moderate hike, or if you’re looking for something longer there are many options (falcons crest is a fave). Dogs must be on leash.

Amazing views and not that difficult of a trail. Super easy drive and amenities very close by. Recommend trying to catch the sunrise or sunset at Lichen Peak.

This is a great hike and time - people who visit get to enjoy Golden up close and personal and then get to see for miles on the Rocky Top 🤯⛰️💙

Amazing hike. Pretty steep climb to the top but totally worth it. Highly recommend.

Wide Open Spaces near the city. Plenty of views, deer, wind, sun, runners, hikers and mountain bikers. No shade though so wear your sunscreen!!

Beautiful place to take a hike, tons of birds and very peaceful!

Really starting to love this place. My typically rule for hiking is to start from the bottom and work your away up because then when you get close to your limit it's all down hill from there. But here you have a really nice drive through the mountains and start out on top and work your way down then back up again. None the less, it's beautiful. You get pretty expansive views of Denver and Boulder. Larger loops that can take about and hour+ to loop around but still fun and beautiful.

Great place for trail running!

A good option for hiking where social distancing is possible. The trails are wider and less crowded than other Jeffco open spaces. There is a pretty large network of trails available. I parked at the west trailhead and did the rawhide loop trail on a sunny weekend in mid-April. The trail is relatively flat, wide, and dry dirt the whole way. Doing the whole loop is 5 miles. Overall, I would rate this as an easy hike and a good option if you are looking for something close to the front range and not too strenuous. The trail works its way through open meadows and forested area in the foothills. There are intermittently nice views to the West into the foothills and to the East toward North Table, Denver, and the plains. I do feel like with minor rerouting the trail could have been significantly more scenic.

Great hiking area. Multiple trails that offer several difficulty levels. There is a map that will explain what the levels mean, it was helpful for our family. We stayed on green and blue trails, the blue were slightly more difficult for sure. The trails are shared with bike riders, hikers of all ages, and pets. Just be mindful of each other. Not crowded, we were here on a Sunday and did not fight for space. Much of our hike we were by ourselves. Beautiful views all along the trail, many spots for pictures. Wear good hiking shoes, lots of rocks.

Great network of trails that weave up and down the rolling hills. Some parts go through private property so stay on trail. Great views of the ridges and of the eastern plains. Highly recommend!

One of the most beautiful hikes in Golden for snow ❄️ showing! Lots of endurance trails that challenge you with high hills, incline & decline points, gorgeous 360 views + fresh air!!

Please please please for the love of all that is holy, read the signs. Certain trails here are designated for bikes/hikers on certain days. If you hike up enchanted forest/magic mountain on an EVEN CALENDER DAY, expect lots of angry mountain bikers. If you can't read the posted signs or choose to ignore them, you put yourself and others in danger.

I loved this hike!! The trails address very well maintained and with easy to follow signs. There are several different tails to follow with lots of opportunity to see wildlife. There is a lovely brook and some beautiful forest. I absolutely loved the enchanted forest! It opens into grassy fields and beautiful views. The bikers were friendly and all followed the posted rules for riding specific directions for odd and even days of the week. Theis is a good hike, some steep parts, nothing technical. I highly recommend spending a few hours exploring the area.

Went on July 4th, started about 8:30. Trail starting out is sunny, parts are shaded, little creek follows you up the trail. We took Apex to Enchanted Forest and came back around the loop to Apex Trail. Enchanted Forest was beautiful, much cooler with all the trees, path opens up a bit more. Odd days are best for hikers as mountain bikers are limited to one way only. We encountered a lot of mountain bikers as yesterday was an even day, however all were courteous. Saw tons of wildlife, everything was really green with flowers everywhere. Trail imo is more difficult in the beginning as there are lots of rocks to climb over, but still doable. Bring lots of water, no water at all on the trail, only restrooms are in the parking lot (very clean though) Have fun and enjoy our states beauty.

Amazing place to go for a little ride! The main loop was about 9 miles with 2000’ if climbing. Odd days have one way trails for bikes which is nice for climbing consistently on Apex trail! Going back again next weekend!

Enchanted Forest is downhill bikes only on even numbered days. It’s surprising the number of hikers who don’t read the sign on the gate.

Love the enchanted forest and apex loop. I prefer to go down the apex and go up the enchanted forest. I know up will be slower and I like to have some shade and enjoy the view. We see moss and lot of beautiful greens in the enchanted forest which isn't super common in the foothills. In late May the flowers are gorgeous and colorful.

I went up to the peak on a solo adventure from the water tower road, followed a small goat or deer path up the mountain. 6/10 difficulty and 10/10 view. Peaceful, got to watch hawks and hang gliders soar.

I would rate this an intermediate/medium level trail simply because of the jagged rock ascents in a few areas. It was a great hike overall, I did the whole thing in under 3 hours and I took a LOT of breaks because it was pretty toasty outside and not many clouds out. Plenty of critters like butterflies, lizards, birds, and bugs; and a lot of pretty wildflowers and rock formations. Worth the hike if you have a few hours to spare over here.

Very doable hike but do be ready for the many areas of rocky trail. You find ample parking at the trailhead and gorgeous views.

Nice loop near Golden. It’s a short and easy but nice hike

This is the trailhead to the lovely 4-mile-long Galbraith Trail. We went on a very warm mid-July evening at about 6:30 PM, despite Google Maps saying that the park closes at 7PM. This is one of the rare instances where Google Maps is (thankfully) not entirely accurate. The park sign board says that it is open until 1 hour after sunset. Another very comforting aspect is that in the evening, almost all of the trail is shaded with the shadow of the mountains. It is a nice 4 mile loop with a rocky climb in many parts but is still easy to moderate, and we completed the hike in about 2 hours. So by the time it got dark, we were down back into the parking lot. See the pictures to get some understanding of the lovely views, but obviously, pictures are just that. You owe it to yourself to experience this trail, especially if you live in the Denver area, as it is just about 40 minutes from anywhere in the area.

Mt Galbraith Park is sweet, but the lot fills up fast and cell access is spotty making it hard to sync up with friends if you're planning to meet there and the lot is already full! There's overflow parking right down the street, so you can just turn around and try that if it's still early.

Absolutely gorgeous… The trail is well-maintained and changes quite a bit throughout the course to keep it. Nice and interesting. The wildflowers are out an abundance right now. Restroom facilities at the beginning is a nice touch… The views are simply outstanding.

This was one of my favorite hikes we did on Colorado. It's within a 10 minute drive of Golden which makes it very convenient. We got there around 6:45am since I read the parking lot fills up early. We got a spot, but the parking lot was full along with cars being parked halfway down the street when we got back. We hiked the Cedar Gulch Trail to the Mount Galbraith Loop Trail. It was 4 miles total. The hike had gorgeous views even with the haze from wildfires. It was also pretty easy. I think I saw that it was rated moderate and I would put it on the easier side of moderate. Earlier in the morning, almost everyone we passed had a mask on (and there weren't many people). By the time we were almost done and it was getting more crowded, most of the newcomers were not wearing masks. The weather was perfect for us since we left early. It wasn't hot yet and I didn't need sunscreen. There was definitely a lot of sunny parts of the trail though. We even saw a baby rattlesnake towards the end of our hike. If you're looking for a relatively easy hike with amazing views, it doesn't get much better than this.

Empty on a June Friday 3. Nice view and bathrooms. Not far from 6 up steep but paved roads. Picture of dirt road is the first part of the hiking trail not the road you drive up. I mountain biked it. As a trail, I would say its a very bikeable hiking trail, but isn't a "mountain biking" trail with berms and stuff. Go clockwise so your last long climb is in the shade.

This is one of one of my favorite trails to get away from Denver. The beauty here is untouched, I could get lost in my thoughts here every time. This trail changes its beauty for each season. So, check the weather and bring plenty of gear, water, and snacks. On these trails you may encounter horses, cows, dogs, moose, many wild small animals, and people on bikes. Stay on the path! This a packed dirt trail. The perfect footwear is hiking boots, snow boots, or jogging shoes for mile high runners. At the trail head has restrooms, maps of all the trails, and a paved parking lot. If I wanted a small walk or jog my go to is the Juniper trail. It does have elevation, but the trail is flat for jogging, and the view is breath taking. This is a hidden gem.

Challenging mtb trails but hiking should be a little easier. A lot of loose rock on the trails makes it challenging to ride. Good signage and facilities.

Wow, that was some great mountain biking. Views, rocks, downhills, switchbacks, very rewarding.

This trail isnt for beginners if you want to hike from one end to the other ....Bring nothing but water, hard candy and wear a goid hiking boots!! Make sure you wrap a band-aid both feet for cushioning as the trail is rugged with sharp rocks and be careful with Rattle Snake!!!

Great quiet place for hikes and biking! Alternate weekend use: even bike, odd hike. Not very crowded and parking right next to the trail. It does wind through some private property and must stay on track there.

Love this spot. One of my favorite locations to go hiking. It is smart to plan ahead. Trails in this area will split weekends to provide one day for hiking and horseback riding, and another day for bike riding.