Denver/Golden Colo. for one night?

[98brg2d]

I have one night free in Denver/Golden tonight. I have never been here or read anything about what to do.

Has anybody got any recommendations for any interesting local experiences?

If I find anything cool and worthwhile doing at night I will post it up for future travellers.

[98brg2d]

So...not really much to do in Golden after work hours. There are some good restaurants (Grappa was pretty good and relatively cheap for the quality, compared to Canada). There are a lot of Mexican restaurants, both real and fresh mex. There are piles of hikes and scenic drives but they must be done during the day.

Good Drive: Take I70 to Evergreen Parkway to Squaw Pass Road. Squaw Pass Road takes you to Mt. Evans and the highest paved highway in North America (>14,000 ft). The road is really windy and fun. At the high point of Squaw Pass there is a visitor lodge/souvenir shop at Echo Lake. Continue on Squaw Pass and it will take you to an old mining town called Idaho Springs and back to Denver. You drive downhill for >30 miles. Most of it very windy, with cool scenery. The drive from Golden to Denver International on this route is about 2:30 hours. Straight back to Golden would be about 1:50 and to down town Denver would be about 2:15. The pass road is only open during the summer and closes in a couple of weeks. Make sure your rental car has good brakes if you plan on driving over the speed limit.