Daniels Park is Denver's wide-open park out on the plains

Most of Denver’s mountain parks are in the foothills or high country. One is different: it sits out on the open plains, south of the city.

Daniels Park is a Denver Mountain Park down in Douglas County, near Sedalia. Instead of forest, it offers rolling grassland and a wide, sweeping view of the Front Range, with the mountains lined up on the western horizon. It is the only one of Denver’s mountain parks in a high-plains setting, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The park also holds Denver’s second bison herd, kept in pasture there.

Because the park is far from the city, it is owned by Denver but reached on roads that Douglas County helps maintain, and the two governments work together to care for it. As with any open-space park, it can be windy and exposed, with little shade.

Why care: it is a calm, big-sky place for a picnic or a sunset, with mountain views you do not get from inside the city.

For hours and access, check the City and County of Denver and Douglas County.