Perhaps the most awesome panorama of this booming metropolis comes from atop Twister II, one of the largest wooden roller coasters in the world. Up here, in the dizzying heights above America's only downtown theme park, the Mile High City spreads out along the horizon, from its glass office towers and gold-plated Capitol dome to the snow-dusted Rockies all around. It's only a momentary view before the car plummets down a stomach-wrenching incline at 60 m.p.h., but it's one that few riders ever forget.

Six Flags Elitch Gardens, which opened in 1995 on the once-derelict banks of the South Platte River, has helped transform Denver into one of the most tourist-friendly downtowns anywhere. Besides high-tech thrill rides, Elitch's family fun land (born in north-west Denver more than a century ago) offers a Caribbean-flavored water park with speed slides and a wave pool called Commotion Ocean. The amusement kingdom and loads of other attractions lie within a one-mile radius of Denver's central core.

Although ranked as the nation's 20th largest metro area (pop. 554, 636), Denver has America's 10th largest downtown, based on office space, retail space, and number of downtown workers. Highly walkable, Colorado's capital contrasts sharply with many Western cities that have no real center.

Across the river from Elitch Gardens are Colorado's Ocean Journey, a world-class aquarium, and the Children's Museum of Denver, where kids can ski on a plastic mountain.

Not far away is the REI Flagship Store, a huge outdoor gear emporium at the junction of the popular Cherry Creek and South Platte bike trails. A magnet for Denver's youthful, active population, REI has a climbing wall, mountain bike test course, and "freezer" for testing cold-weather clothes and sleeping bags. A nearby stretch of the South Platte offers kayaking and whitewater rafting. (The penchant for physical activity makes Denver the thinnest city in the U.S., with the nation's smallest percentage of overweight adults, according to a study by the American Cancer Society.)

Along these revitalized river banks at the northwest edge of downtown, the 76,000-seat football stadium for the Denver Broncos (Invesco Field at Mile High) opened last fall. The nearby Pepsi Center, another state-of-the-art facility, has been home since 1999 to pro hockey's Colorado Avalanche and basketball's Denver Nuggets.

More than any other development, the 1995 opening of Coors Field, home to baseball's Colorado Rockies, sparked the growth of downtown Denver, especially the old 26-block warehouse district known as LoDo, short for "Lower Downtown." Blending in with its Victorian-era surroundings, the classic brick stadium caters to families with a playground, gift shop, and food stand just for little buckaroos, and a family section that provides booster seats and serves no alcohol. Stadium tours feature the Rockies dugout, press boxes, high-rent suites, and the single row of purple seats exactly one mile (5,280 feet) above sea level. The centerfield bullpen is landscaped with river boulders, pine and spruce trees, a waterfall, and a fountain that shoots skyward for Rockies home runs.

Dead after dark only a few years ago, LoDo abounds with nightlife, from jazz club and discos to sports bars and brew pubs. By day, art galleries, trendy shops, and hot new restaurants bring in crowds. More than 5,000 residents now live in the lofts of LoDo, giving the area a 24-hour vibrancy.

Wynkoop Brewing Company, two blocks from Coors Field, is one of the largest brew pubs in America. Besides a variety of fresh beers, it features hearty fare like elk medallions in peppercorn brandy sauce served on a mound of chunky mashed potatoes. There's live comedy in the basement and an elegant pool hall upstairs.

With its downtown microbreweries and the huge Coors Brewery (the world's single largest brewery) in the town of Golden, the city makes more beer than anywhere else in the world. Every October, Denver hosts the Great American Beer Festival, the nation's largest beer event.

Two blocks from the galleries and shops of LoDo's Larimer Square, a restored section of Denver's oldest street, is another downtown entertainment hub, the Denver Performing Arts Complex (PLEX). With nine theaters offering opera and symphony, ballet and Broadway, it is the world's largest performing arts center under one roof and, in seating capacity, ranks second only to New York's Lincoln Center.

Lively 16th Street Mall, the mile-long spine of downtown Denver, is the place to see and be seen. Grab a table at a sidewalk cafe and watch the parade of people--office workers, conventioneers, tattooed teenagers, and stroller-pushing parents. Street performers add to the festivity along this banner-festooned pedestrian promenade lined with trees and benches, fountains and flower baskets. Horse carriages and free mall shuttle buses are the only vehicular traffic.

Anchoring the uptown (southern) end of 16th Street Mall is the hip Denver Pavilions, a two-block complex with music and comedy clubs, a 15-screen cinema, courtyard concerts, and shops (like Nike Town and Virgin Megastore) that stay open until 9 p.m. weeknights, 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. In addition to Hard Rock Cafe and Wolfgang Puck Cafe, dining choices at the Denver Pavilions include Cafe Odyssey, which offers sight-and-sound escapes into one of three themed environments--the Incan rains of Machu Picchu, Lost City of Atlantis, or Africa's Serengeti Plains.

Just east of the Mall, canyons of skyscrapers dominate 17th Street, the "Wall Street" of the Rocky Mountain West, and 18th Street. Mixed in with the financial district's high-rises are historic structures like the Brown Palace Hotel, a landmark dating back to 1892. With its stained-glass ceiling and walls of onyx, the hotel's grand, eight-story atrium is the perfect spot for a relaxing drink or an English-style afternoon tea accompanied by harp or piano music.

Around Civic Center Park, just a few blocks from the Brown Palace and Denver Pavilions, points of interest include the Colorado History Museum, Denver Art Museum (known for its Native American collections), and Colorado State Capitol, whose open-air observation deck affords sweeping views of the city (built on flat, high plains) and the glorious Rocky Mountains.

No trip to downtown Denver is complete without touring the U.S. Mint, where you can see machines make, sort, and bag shiny pennies and other coins. Get there early in the morning to avoid lines that wrap around the block.

From glass observation galleries, visitors on the free, 20-minute tours witness the jangling coins pour from stamping machines into wheeled "wagons," much like casino slot machines gone wild. (The Mint chums out 40 million coins a day!) Security is tight, not so much for the coin production plant but for the $100 billion worth of solid gold bars stashed in the basement, the largest deposit of gold bullion in the U.S. after Fort Knox. Tour guides warn that film will be confiscated if pictures are taken. The gift shop sells jewelry made from coins and other numismatic souvenirs.

Two miles east of downtown is City Park, the largest green space in a city that boasts a vast variety of inviting parks. Come here for the best views of the Rocky Mountains, a pretty lake with gardens and fountains, and two world-class attractions--the Denver Zoo and Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The zoo's impressive Primate Panorama is an African village setting for gorillas, monkeys, and other primates.

The Museum of Nature and Science, the fifth largest museum of its kind in the country, showcases everything from dinosaurs and Egyptian mummies to grand dioramas of North American wildlife. Kids especially like all the interactive, computer exhibits and outdoor water play area. Space Odyssey, the most ambitious project in the museum's 100-year history, opens in mid-2003.

Perhaps the most peaceful spot in town is Denver Botanical Gardens, where a tropical conservatory displays exotic vegetation from around the world. One of the top five botanic gardens in the country, it has outdoor rose, rock, Japanese, and 30 other gardens connected by flowing streams and water lily-dappled pools.

With 200 parks in the city limits and 20,000 acres of mountain parks in the nearby foothills, Denver has the nation's largest city park system. Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 12 miles from downtown Denver, is probably the best known of the 47 mountain parks. Its 9,000-seat acoustically perfect outdoor theater, carved between two gigantic boulders, has played host to stars like the Beatles and Bruce Springsteen.