Getting Around Denver

Central Denver streets, and those in surrounding suburban cities, are laid out in a grid pattern. Broadway runs north-south and serves as the dividing line between east and west addresses. Ellsworth Avenue runs east-west and serves as the dividing line between north and south addresses. Broadway and Ellsworth Avenue are the "zero hundred blocks," meaning that street addresses get larger the farther away they get from these central streets.

In downtown Denver, the street grid shifts to a northeast-southwest axis. Confusing? Not really. If lost, just remember to look for the mountains, and you'll always know where west is.

Another helpful tip is to remember that odd-numbered addresses are on the west and north sides of streets whereas even-numbered addresses are on the east and south sides. So, for example, the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building at 201 West Colfax Avenue is on the north side of Colfax. The Denver Mint at 320 West Colfax Avenue, however, is on the south side.
For highways, Interstate 70, or "I-70," is the east-west highway that skirts the northern part of town. I-70 is the main route for westbound travellers and skiiers heading into the mountains and across the Continental Divide, or for those heading east to Kansas and the Midwest. Interstate 25, often called "I-25" or the "Valley Highway," is the north-south highway that circles the west side of town, and is a main conduit for getting around town. I-25 is also the primary route out of Denver to the northern cities of Greeley, Loveland, Fort Collins and onward to Wyoming, or south to Castle Rock, Colorado Springs, Pueblo and New Mexico.