Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Aurora (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Arapahoe Park, Aurora Fox Arts Center, and Plains Conservation Center. Also, be sure to include Aurora Reservoir in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Aurora (Colorado).
Table of Contents
Arapahoe Park
Racecourse in Arapahoe County, Colorado. Bally's Arapahoe Park is a horse-racing track in Arapahoe County, Colorado on the outskirts of Aurora, owned and operated by Bally's Corporation. Located at 26000 East Quincy Avenue, Arapahoe Park hosts Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, Paint Horse and Arabian horse racing.
The racing season generally begins in mid-May and continues through the late spring into the summer, wrapping up in mid-August. The track is home to the Mile High Futurity and the Mile High Derby, both quarter horse stakes races with final purses of over $100,000. For Thoroughbreds, the meet's marque race is the Gold Rush Futurity, a 2 year old stakes race going six furlongs for $100,000 in purse monies. Arapahoe Park also hosts four graded stakes races, all for Arabian horses.[1]
Address: 26000 E Quincy Ave, 80016-2026 Aurora
Aurora Fox Arts Center
Performing arts theater in Aurora, Colorado. The Aurora Fox Arts Center is located at 9900 E Colfax Avenue in Aurora, Colorado in the Aurora Cultural Arts District. It is the City of Aurora's performing arts center run by the City of Aurora Cultural Services Division and supported by the many theater-goers.[2]
Address: Aurora, 9900 E Colfax Ave, Aurora, CO United States
Plains Conservation Center
Hiking area in Aurora, Colorado. The Plains Conservation Center is an outdoor education facility and state-designated natural area in Aurora, Colorado. Its mission is to preserve Colorado's prairies, educate children about Colorado's eco-history, and nurture conservation efforts. The center comprises two sites totaling approximately 8,894 acres of land. The main site is located on 1,100 acres in Aurora and the second site is south of Strasburg on 7,960 acres bisected by West Bijou Creek. The Aurora property is owned by the Aurora Parks, Recreation and Open Space department.[3]
Address: 21901 E Hampden Ave, 80013-5000 Aurora
Aurora Reservoir
Reservoir in Colorado. Aurora Reservoir is a 31,650 acre-foot reservoir located in the far southeastern reach of Aurora, Colorado. Senac Creek and other minor streams flow into the reservoir's three coves, Senac, Marina and Lone Tree, each pointing to the south. The reservoir provides drinking water to the City of Aurora, and is also a recreation area.[4]
Address: 5800 S Powhaton Rd, Aurora
Granville Fuller House
The Granville Fuller House is a Queen Anne style home located at 2027 Galena St, in Aurora, Colorado, United States. It was built in 1892, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house is one of only a few surviving and intact houses commissioned by Aurora's founder, real estate developer Donald Fletcher.[5]
Blanche A. Wilson House
Museum. Blanche A. Wilson House, also known as Centennial House, is a historic house in Aurora, Colorado that now serves as a museum. It is open for tour by the Aurora Historical Society on the second Sunday of the month in the summer season.[6]
DeLaney Barn
The Delaney Barn is the barn of a former homestead located at 170 S. Chambers Road in Aurora, Colorado. It seems to be the only historic round barn surviving in Colorado today. Horses, dairy cattle and other livestock were raised on this farm. It serves as an important piece of early twentieth century architecture. Now part of the 160 acre DeLaney Historic District with restored farm buildings.
It was built c.1900.[7]
Gully Homestead
The Gully Homestead is a former homestead located at 200 S. Chambers Road in Aurora, Colorado.
Thomas Gully, his wife Temperance, and their four children came to Colorado in 1862. Thomas, an Irish immigrant, moved to the Colorado Territory to work in the mines, but decided to try his hand at farming shortly after.
The Gully's claimed 11,000 acres near the Toll Gate Creek and built a small log home.
It operated as a ranch by his descendants until the 1950s. The home also served as a community center and a polling place.
The farm house, believed to be the oldest home in Aurora, consists of two parts; the kitchen (ca. 1866), and the main house, believed to be built in 1870. The two sections are connected.
The home sat vacant from the early 1950s until 1978. It was determined to be sitting in a floodplain. The developer who owned the house donated it to the city with the stipulation the house would be moved.
It was relocated to its current site, in the DeLaney Farm Historic District, along with a chicken coop in 1982, and restored the homein 1983. The City of Aurora established the area as a park.
The house came into ownership by the city of Aurora in 1978. The City restored the home and it is open for tours and school trips.
Several structures stand on the property, including the 1902 Round Barn, a 1949 shed, a privy and the Delaney house, ca. 1890. The Coal Creek School House (1920) sits on the edge of the site.[8]
Melvin School
The Melvin School is a former homestead located at 4950 S. Laredo St. in Aurora, Colorado. It was moved to its current site from its original location, 3 miles away. It was built in 1922.
The structure has undergone extensive renovation, including a rebuilding of the belfry, which was done using old pictures as a guide. Inside the structure, there is a museum and library in one room and an authentically-restored classroom that shows the interior of a typical rural school from the 1920s.[9]
Cherry Creek Dam
Cherry Creek Dam is a dam in Arapahoe County, Colorado southeast of Denver.
The earthen dam was constructed between 1948 and 1950 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers with a height of 141 feet (43 m) and a length of 14,300 feet (4,400 m) at its crest. It impounds Cherry Creek, a tributary of the South Platte River, for flood control. The dam and reservoir are owned and operated by the Corps of Engineers.
The reservoir it creates, Cherry Creek Reservoir, has a water surface of 880 acres (360 ha), and a maximum capacity of 134,470 acre-feet (170 million cubic meters). Recreation at the reservoir centers on the facilities of the adjacent Cherry Creek State Park, which offers camping, radio-controlled aircraft, picnicking, opportunities for bird watching, cross country skiing, fishing, horseback riding and an outdoor shooting range.[10]
M.J. Lavina Robidoux House
The M.J. Lavina Robidoux House in Aurora, Colorado is an Italianate house built in 1913. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. Constructed in 1913, the Robidoux House is a one-and-a-half-story, cross-gabled brick bungalow and is an excellent example of the Craftsman architectural style. The city of Aurora, Colorado, has very few examples of Craftsman brick bungalows that are left in the area, making this house particularly significant.[11]