The Denver metropolitan area spills into five or six surrounding counties, with three of them having highpoints that are very easy and relatively close to one another. I did these three counties (Adams, Arapahoe and Denver) in about an hour and a half. No hiking was required, other than easy walking. I had spent most of the first part of the day exploring Pikes Peak.

After my Pikes Peak adventure, I came to the Denver area from the southeast and caught up to a toll freeway called Interstate-470, which loops around the city. It cost money (75 cents each exit) but gets close to two of the highpoints. First on the docket was Arapahoe County. I took Smokey Hill Road about 3 miles to Otero Drive and parked along the road, scampered up the embankment and voila, there was the highpoint cairn. Just a little rise in the land.

Adams County was next, and even easier. Back onto I-470, I went toward Interstate-70, exited at CO-36 then took some local roads to 26th Avenue, which crests right on the highpoint ridge. Again, very simple. Big Denver International Airport was not far away.

Denver was next (and last). Denver is a city and county, formed into one unit back in 1902 or so. Its city/county highpoint is along its southwest boundary where the city starts to gain into the foothills of the Rockies. Contrary to what a lot of people think (and I had thought this too), Denver is not in the mountains. It is smack in the plains, mainly flat with some hills. The mountains are about 30 miles west, and Denver's highpoint is in these foothills.

Following a street map I got myself to the corner of Kipling and Belleview Roads, and parked in a small shopping center. I walked north up Kipling about 500 feet to some fencing near some residences. A small phone utility box "marks" the city/county boundary here, and essentially the highpoint of Denver. Very, very unexciting, but hey, it counts. I walked back and after my epic afternoon, rewarded myself with a three-taco special at the Taco Bell on the corner.

I spent the rest of the day driving into the mountains, staying in Georgetown in preparation for my next day's hike up Grays Peak, an honest-to-gosh 14er.