Denver's Capitol Hill Mansions, House by Haunted House at Twilight
An evening walk through the mansion blocks of Capitol Hill, where the stories are told at the curb and no door opens.
Denver's Capitol Hill keeps its old mansion blocks in use. People live in some of the houses, offices fill others, and at least one has become lodging. This walk spends two hours in that neighborhood, and the guide stops the group in front of one building at a time to tell what is supposed to have happened inside it. Every stop stays outside. The tour has no access to any interior. The route covers 1.7 miles.
Departures leave from 901 Sherman Street, at the corner of 9th and Sherman, in front of the lighted Archer Tower sign. The operator asks travelers to use the Sherman side of the building and to arrive five minutes early.
Twilight Ghost TourTwo hours and 1.7 miles on foot through Capitol Hill with a guide, run by Best Tours of Denver. Every stop stays outside.www.viator.comThe Houses the Guide Stops At
Eleven stops fill the two hours, and each one gets a set amount of time. The Peabody-Whitehead Mansion gets ten minutes, and so does the Molly Brown House. The longest stop, twenty minutes, is one residential street the tour introduces by its old nickname, Millionaire's Row. Crawford Hill Mansion opens the route at seven minutes. History Colorado dates that house to 1906, credits Theodore Boal with the design, and describes its best-known resident, Louise Sneed Hill, as the leader of the Denver social set known as the Sacred Thirty-Six. The Sheedy Mansion, the largest house on the walk, closes it. Two stops carry television credits, and they rest on different footing. The Denver Gazette reported in May 2020 that Portals to Hell filmed an episode at the Croke-Patterson Mansion, the sandstone pile the tour introduces as the Patterson Inn. The Ghost Adventures credit for the Peabody-Whitehead Mansion comes from the operator's own site.
Poets Row and the Capitol View
One stop steps away from the mansions to a block of three-story walk-ups named for literary figures, borrowing from Art Deco and Art Moderne. That block is the Sherman Street Historic District, added to the National Register in 2004, and the Capitol stands two blocks north of it. Five minutes covers it. Another five go to a former hotel that drew Denver's mid-century literary crowd, Jack Kerouac among the names the operator gives. A bar has run on that property since 1928. The group stays outside that one as well.
What the Two Hours Ask of You
The walk runs 1.7 miles at a stopping pace, and the operator asks for at least a moderate level of physical fitness. No restrooms exist anywhere on the route, and the tour tells travelers to plan for that before they arrive. Sidewalks along the way are uneven, and the light drops off by the end. Karen A, who walked it in July 2023, rated the tour five stars and still flagged the footing: “Comfortable shoes are recommended as the sidewalks and terrain was uneven in a lot of places.” The walk goes ahead in rain, in snow, and in clear weather. Weather does not earn a refund or a new date.
- Wheelchair accessible, with accessible surfaces along the route
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals are allowed; other pets are not
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Public transportation runs near the meeting point
Age Guidance and the House Rules
The operator puts its age line at nine and up, and says some of the stories run intense. One stop carries that warning specifically, which gives parents of younger children a clear signal to work from. Anyone who arrives under the influence will be asked to leave, with no refund. Photographs taken on the walk may be used on social media or in advertising. Street crossings happen at marked pedestrian signals only.
The meeting point is 901 Sherman Street, at the corner of 9th and Sherman, in front of the lighted Archer Tower sign. Use the Sherman side. Travelers are asked to arrive five minutes early, and booking closes two hours before the departure time. Standard cancellation terms apply. One booking covers up to twenty travelers, and the operator says the walk sells out quickly around Halloween. The route is a loop. Two hours later the group is standing on the same corner it started from.