The

City and County of Denver Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, is located at 39°43'35" North, 104°57'56" West (39.726287, −104.965486) in the Colorado Front Range region. The

Southern Rocky Mountains The Southern Rocky Mountains are a major subregion of the Rocky Mountains of North America located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, the central and western portions of Colorado, the northern portion of New Mexico, and ext ...

lie to the west of Denver and the High Plains lie to the east. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of 401.3 km² (154.9 mi²). 397.2 km² (153.4 mi²) of it is land and 4.1 km² (1.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.03% water.

Adjacent counties

Adams County, Colorado Adams County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 519,572. The county seat is Brighton, and the largest city is Thornton. The county is named for Alva Adams, an early Go ...

- north and east *

Arapahoe County, Colorado Arapahoe County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 655,070, making it the third-most populous county in Colorado. The county seat is Littleton, Colorado, L ...

- south and east and southeastern

enclaves An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is some ...

Jefferson County, Colorado Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 582,910, making it the fourth-most populous county in Colorado. The county seat is Golden, and the most populous city is Lakewood. ...

- west

Adjacent cities

* City of Commerce City - north * City of Brighton – north (separated by a strip of unincorporated Adams County) * City of Aurora – east * City of Glendale – southeastern

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

* City of Greenwood Village - south * City of Cherry Hills Village - south * City of Englewood -south * City of Sheridan -south * Town of Bow Mar - south * City of Littleton - south * City of Lakewood -west * City of Edgewater -west * City of Wheat Ridge -west * Town of Mountain View -west * Town of Lakeside - west * City of Arvada – northwest (separated by a strip of unincorporated Jefferson County) * Berkley CDP - north * North Washington CDP - north

Climate

Denver features a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: ''BSk'') with very low humidity and around 3,100 hours of sunshine per year. The weather of the city and surrounding area is influenced by the proximity of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

to the west. The climate, while generally mild compared to the mountains to the west and the plains further east, can be moderately unpredictable. Measurable amounts of snow have fallen in Denver as late as

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

and as early as

Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...

. Most recently, Denver received an inch of snow on September 8, 2020, making this the second earliest measurable snowfall on record. The average temperature in Denver is , and the average yearly precipitation is . The average window for measurable (≥) snowfall is October 17 thru April 27, averaging of seasonal accumulation for 1981−2010. Denver averages 270 clear and partly cloudy days per year or 3200 hours of sunshine making it one of the sunniest major cities.NOAA
/ref> Denver receives more precipitation than most locations with semi-arid climates, but still features a semi-arid climate due to its high

evapotranspiration Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of w ...

. Denver's winters are normally dry and range from mild to moderately cold, and although large amounts of snow can fall on the mountains just west of the city, the effects of

orographic lift Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...

dry out the air passing over the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encounter ...

shadowing the city from precipitation for much of the season. Additionally, warm

chinook winds Chinook winds, or simply Chinooks, are two types of prevailing warm, generally westerly winds in western North America: Coastal Chinooks and interior Chinooks. The coastal Chinooks are persistent seasonal, wet, southwesterly winds blowing in from ...

can occasionally be felt as air passing over the mountains heats as it descends, bringing a melting snow cover and surging temperatures; from December to February there is an average of 12−18 days of + highs and 1−3 days of above-freezing lows per month. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Denver was recorded on January 9, 1875, at , though the last time Denver recorded a temperature below was December 22, 2022. Spring brings with it significant changes as Denver can be affected by

air masses In meteorology, an air mass is a volume of air defined by its temperature and humidity. Air masses cover many hundreds or thousands of square miles, and adapt to the characteristics of the surface below them. They are classified according to ...

on all sides, whether arctic air from the north, which occasionally combines with Pacific storm fronts bringing snow to the city. As reported at Denver International, March is the second snowiest month, averaging of snow. Additionally, warm air from the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

can bring the first

thunderstorms A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are som ...

of the season, and continental warm air can bring summer-like warm and dry conditions. The last freeze of the season on average falls on May 6. Mountains from westlands

Starting in mid-July, the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

brings tropical moisture into the city, and with it comes occasional short late-afternoon thunderstorms. However, despite this tropical moisture, humidity levels during the day generally remain very low, and lows rarely remain at or above . There are 38 days of + highs per year, though + highs are not seen annually. The average window for temperatures reaching the former threshold is June 4 thru September 7. In the autumn, the tropical monsoon flow dies down and as arctic air begins to approach it can combine with moisture from the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

to bring snowfall to the city – November is Denver's third snowiest month, and both the greatest snowfall from a single storm and daily snow depth on record occurred before the Winter Solstice. In general diurnal temperature range is large, averaging between . Extreme statistics (since 1872 unless otherwise indicated): *All-time record high: on August 8, 1878, July 20, 2005, June 25−26, 2012, and June 28, 2018. *The All-time record low: on January 9, 1875 *Lowest daily maximum: on February 3, 1883 *Highest daily minimum: on July 3, 1881 *Highest daily average: on June 26, 2012 *Lowest daily average: on January 11, 1963 *Highest 24-hour precipitation: on May 22, 1876. *Highest monthly precipitation: during May 1876 *Lowest monthly precipitation: none during December 1881; trace monthly precipitation has occurred several times, the last being November 1949. *Highest annual precipitation: during 1967 *Lowest annual precipitation: during 2002 *Highest 24-hour snowfall: on December 24, 1982 *Highest one-storm total: from December 1−6, 1913.Denver Cold/Snow Statistics Page
/ref> *Highest daily snow depth (since 1921): November 4−5, 1946 *Highest monthly snowfall: during December 1913 *Highest seasonal snowfall: during 1908−09 *Lowest seasonal snowfall: during 1888−89

Neighborhoods

Denver has 79

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

that the City and community groups use for planning and administration. Although the City's delineation of the neighborhood boundaries is somewhat arbitrary, the City's definitions of its neighborhoods roughly correspond to those used by residents. Denver also has a number of neighborhoods not reflected in the City's administrative neighborhoods. Sometimes these neighborhoods reflect the way people in an area identify themselves; sometimes they reflect how others, such as real estate developers, have defined those areas. Among the neighborhoods commonly spoken of are historic and trendy LoDo (short for "Lower Downtown"), part of the City's Union Station neighborhood;

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

, Washington Park; Uptown, part of the North Capitol Hill neighborhood; Curtis Park, part of the Five Points neighborhood; Alamo Placita, the northern part of the Speer neighborhood; and the Golden Triangle, roughly the Civic Center neighborhood.

Transportation

Grid system

Most of Denver has a straightforward

street grid In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at Angle#Types of angles, right angles to each other, forming a wikt:grid, grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, fr ...

oriented to the four

cardinal direction The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main compass directions: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W). The corresponding azimuths ( clockwise horizontal angle from north) are 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°. The ...

s. Blocks are usually identified in hundreds from the median streets, identified as "0", which are Broadway (the west-east median) and Ellsworth Avenue (the north-south median).

Colfax Avenue Colfax Avenue is the main street that runs east–west through the Denver metropolitan area in Colorado. As U.S. Highway 40, it was one of two principal highways serving Denver before the Interstate Highway System was constructed. In the loca ...

, the major east-west artery through Denver, is 15 blocks (1500 North) of the median. Avenues north of Ellsworth are numbered (except for Colfax Avenue and a few others), while avenues south of Ellsworth are named. There is also an older downtown grid system that was designed to be parallel to the confluence of the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwestern United States, Midwest and the American Sou ...

and Cherry Creek. Most of the streets downtown and in LoDo run northeast-southwest and northwest-southeast. This system has an unplanned benefit for snow removal; if the streets were in a normal N-S/E-W grid, only the N-S streets would get sun. With the grid pointed in diagonal directions, the NW-SE streets get the sun to melt snow in the morning and the NE-SW streets get it in the afternoon. The NW-SE streets are numbered, while the NE-SW streets are named. The named streets start at the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Broadway with the block-long Cheyenne Place. The numbered streets start underneath the Colfax and I-25 viaducts. There are 27 named and 44 numbered streets on this grid. There are also a few vestiges of the old grid system in the normal grid, such as Park Avenue, Morrison Road, and Speer Boulevard.

Highways

Denver is primarily served by the interstate highways

I-25 Interstate 25 (I-25), also known as the Pan-American Freeway, is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 st ...

and

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, just outside Baltimore, Maryland. I-70 appr ...

. The intersection of the two interstates is referred to locally as "the mousetrap." I-70 runs east-west from

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. I-25 runs north-south from the

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

border through Denver to Buffalo,

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. I-225 traverses neighboring

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

and connects with I-25 in the southeastern corner of Denver. Additionally, I-76 begins from I-70 on the south edge of the city of Arvada. It intersects I-25 north of the city and runs northeast to Nebraska where it ends at

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

. U.S. Highway 6 connects downtown Denver to the suburb of Golden. A highway expansion and transit project, dubbed "T-REX", was recently completed along the I-25 corridor. The project included the addition of extra freeway lanes, the redesign of several highway overpasses, and a light rail line along the I-25 corridor between downtown Denver and the

Denver Technological Center Denver Technological Center, better known as The Denver Tech Center or DTC, is a business and economic trading center located in Colorado in the southeastern portion of the Denver Metropolitan Area, within portions of the cities of Denver and Gree ...

. The massive project was finished in the Fall of 2006, ahead of schedule and under budget.

Public transit

Mass transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

throughout the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area is managed and coordinated by the

Regional Transportation District The Regional Transportation District, more commonly referred to as RTD, is the regional agency operating public transit services in all or a portion of eight out of the twelve counties in the Denver–Aurora combined statistical area in the U.S. ...

(RTD). RTD currently operates more than 1,000

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

es serving 10,000 bus stops in 38 municipal jurisdictions. Additionally, RTD operates seven

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

lines (the C Line, D Line, E Line, F Line, H Line, R Line, and the W Line) as well as two

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

lines serving a total of 53 stations. The current RTD local fare is $2.25.

FasTracks FasTracks is a multibillion-dollar public transportation expansion plan under construction in metropolitan Denver, Colorado, United States. Developed by the Regional Transportation District (RTD), the plan consists of new commuter rail, light r ...

, an expansion project approved by voters in 2004, will allow the light rail to serve cities such as Lakewood, Golden, and

. Commuter rail lines will serve

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

Longmont Longmont is a home rule municipality located in Boulder and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Its population was 98,885 . Longmont is located northeast of the county seat of Boulder. It is named after Longs Peak, a prominent mountain th ...

, and the

Denver International Airport Denver International Airport , often referred to by locals as DIA, is an international airport in the Western United States, primarily serving metropolitan Denver, Colorado, as well as the greater Front Range Urban Corridor. At , Effective Ju ...

, augmenting existing light rail extending from the downtown area to C-470 servicing the Denver suburbs.

Inter-city rail

Passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

service to Denver is provided by Amtrak's ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...

'', which runs from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

with major stops in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, Denver,

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, and

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

. Additionally, the '' Winter Park Express'' provides winter weekend service from Denver to

Winter Park Resort Winter Park Resort is an alpine ski resort in the western United States, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado at Winter Park. Located in Grand County just off U.S. Highway 40, the resort is about a ninety-minute drive from Denver. History The ...

. Both trains stop at Denver's historic

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

, where travelers can transfer to RTD's 16th Street Free MallRide or use light rail to tour the city.

Airports

is the eleventh busiest airport in the world, and sixth in the U.S. In 2005, it handled 43.4 million passengers. In land area it is the largest airport in the United States, covering 53 sq. miles. *Formerly

Stapleton International Airport Stapleton International Airport was a major airport in the western United States, and the primary airport of Denver, Colorado. It opened on October 17, 1929, and was replaced by the current Denver International Airport in 1995. It was a hub f ...

(replaced by Denver International Airport and closed in 1995) *Formerly

Lowry Air Force Base Lowry Air Force Base (Lowry Field from 1938–1948) is a former United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) training base during World War II and a United States Air Force (USAF) training base during the Cold War. From 1955-1958, it served as the i ...