Discover Lakewood: Culture, Art and Nature

Lakewood combines historical insights, contemporary art, and expansive landscapes. If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Lakewood, you can plan your trip around whether your group is more interested in history, creative experiences, hiking, or observing nature. The city offers a wide range of options for this – from tours of historic buildings to the 6,800-foot-high Green Mountain.

History and Culture in Lakewood

Heritage Lakewood offers a 60-minute tour of its historic buildings and structures. Those who prefer to explore the history at their own pace can take the self-guided outdoor tour, which focuses on local history and the buildings of Heritage Lakewood. In addition, Heritage Lakewood's permanent gallery highlights significant events from the entire 20th century. This allows you to organize a cultural day in different ways: with a scheduled tour, an outdoor walk, or a longer exploration of historical topics in the gallery.

The Lakewood Cultural Center also has a clear cultural focus. It features a 320-seat theater and three rotating galleries for visual art. For planning your day, this provides another opportunity to combine nature experiences with a visit to the theater or an art exhibition, without limiting your stay to a single area of interest. 40 West Arts is especially diverse: The state-certified Colorado Creative District runs along historic West Colfax Avenue in Lakewood. It is also home to the 40 West ArtLine, a four-mile art trail for walking and cycling in the 40 West Arts Creative District, near historic West Colfax Avenue and the RTD W Line.

Trails, Views and Landscapes

William Frederick Hayden Park on Green Mountain encompasses more than 2,400 acres of open space and is the second-largest park in Lakewood. William F. Hayden Park on Green Mountain features a challenging network of multi-use trails. This allows you to deliberately incorporate the more active part of your trip into your daily plans. The 6,800-foot summit of the Green Mountain Trail offers views east over the Denver metropolitan area and west toward high mountain peaks.

A different landscape characterizes Bear Creek Greenbelt Park. The 379-acre protected area along Bear Creek includes wetlands, fishing ponds, and riparian forests. This combination creates a distinct contrast to the open, higher-elevation Green Mountain: here, the focus is on the waterscape and riparian woodland. At Bear Creek Lake Park, the campground has 47 sites with electrical hookups. When choosing your accommodation, it therefore remains relevant whether you primarily want to experience Lakewood as a cultural destination, as a starting point for trails and views, or as a place with different types of landscapes.

A Suitable Rhythm for Your Trip

The attractions can be combined into different daily rhythms. One day might begin with Heritage Lakewood's self-guided tour and continue later at a gallery or the theater at the Lakewood Cultural Center. On another day, the focus could be the Green Mountain Trail, views of the Denver metropolitan area and the high mountain peaks, or the wetlands of Bear Creek Greenbelt Park. The 40 West ArtLine is another option for art enthusiasts. On the first Friday of each month, 40 West Arts hosts a First Friday program from 5 to 9 p.m.

When choosing a holiday apartment, it is therefore less useful to make a general classification than to ask what kind of travel experience you want: Would you like to discover historic buildings and galleries, explore trails and landscapes, or combine both over different days? Lakewood offers specific cultural and natural points of interest for these decisions, without requiring you to commit to just one type of trip.

Discover More Places

For further travel planning, you can also explore Coal Creek, Edgewater, Arvada, Evergreen, Wheat Ridge and Golden.

For the higher-level travel overview: Jefferson.