Self-Guided Denver Mural Tour: A 3-Mile Walking Route

This self-guided Denver mural tour is a 3-mile walking route through four neighborhoods, hitting 10 walls that show how Denver's street art scene keeps rewriting itself. The route runs on flat sidewalks from Union Station north through LoDo and RiNo, then loops back through Five Points. No tickets, no guide, no app required — just a pair of shoes and a charged phone for photos.

This self-guided Denver mural tour covers roughly 3 miles on flat sidewalks. Budget about two hours if you stop to photograph each wall, or 90 minutes at a steady pace. The route starts at Union Station — reachable on any RTD light rail line — heads north through LoDo, cuts into RiNo along the train tracks, and loops back through Five Points before dropping you a short walk from where you started. Every stop is outdoors and free. Bring a water bottle, comfortable shoes, and sunscreen — there is not much shade once you leave Wynkoop Street.

Start on the west side of Union Station and walk south along Wynkoop Street. At 17th and Wynkoop, look at the three-story wall facing the plaza. A sweeping blue-and-gold mural stretches across the brick, depicting a mountain horizon line dissolving into geometric shapes. The artist, Pat Milbery, painted it in 2019 as part of the CRUSH WALLS festival. The colors shift in late-afternoon light — golds turn almost copper. Snap a wide shot from across the street to get the full scale, then move in close to see where the spray paint meets the original brickwork.

Walk one block north on Wynkoop, then cut east on 18th Street toward Blake. The pedestrian alley behind the Dairy Block building holds a rotating gallery of smaller murals — most are shoulder-height, meant to be seen at arm's length. Current pieces include abstract florals in pinks and teals and a monochrome portrait series. The alley is narrow, so midday sun only reaches the walls for about an hour. Morning light works best here.

Head north on Blake Street. The walk from 18th to 29th is about 12 blocks — a solid half-mile along the rail corridor. You pass loading docks, old brick warehouses, and a couple of construction fences. At 29th and Larimer, the railroad underpass is covered floor-to-ceiling in spray paint. The murals here change every CRUSH WALLS cycle, so what you see depends on the year. In 2025, the west wall featured a 40-foot magenta octopus by Jaime Molina wrapping around a concrete pillar. Photo tip: use the tunnel framing to create a natural vignette.

Continue north on Larimer into the core of the RiNo Art District. Between 32nd and 33rd, the alley behind the Larimer-facing buildings is one of the densest mural corridors in Denver. Both sides of the alley are painted — you are walking through a canyon of color. Expect large-scale photorealistic faces, animals rendered in neon outlines, and abstract lettering. Many of these walls carry CRUSH WALLS festival pieces dating back to 2016. Denver currently has over 500 active construction permits in the RiNo area alone (Denver Open Data, 2026), so some walls cycle faster as buildings go up and come down.

From the alley, walk one block west to Chestnut Place. The east-facing wall of the Blue Moon Brewing Company building holds a four-story mural of Colorado wildlife — bighorn sheep, trout, and a red-tailed hawk — painted in a style that blends realism with folk-art patterning. The wall faces east, so it catches morning sun full-on. Afternoon visitors get even lighting with no glare, which is better for photos.

Walk north on Chestnut and turn right onto Brighton Boulevard. At 34th Street, the old Bindery building (now a mixed-use space) has its south wall covered in a mural by Thomas Evans, known as Detour. The piece uses bright oranges and deep purples in overlapping geometric portraits. Detour is one of Denver's most recognized mural artists — you will see his work at several other spots along this route. Stand across Brighton for the best angle; the sidewalk on the building side is too close for a full frame.

Double back south on Brighton Boulevard about four blocks. The Source Hotel at 3350 Brighton has a wraparound mural on its ground-floor exterior — large-scale black-and-white line work with bursts of turquoise. The piece extends along two sides of the building, so walk the full perimeter. The hotel's patio seating area gives you a good vantage point, and the bar inside is a reasonable mid-route water stop if you need one.

This is the route's detour for dedicated walkers. Head east on 35th and pick up the South Platte River Trail heading south. At the Globeville Landing Park entrance, the retaining walls along the path display community murals — portraits of Globeville residents, scenes from the neighborhood's meatpacking history, and stylized maps of the South Platte. Denver maintains 323 public parks (Denver Open Data), and this is one of the few where the murals tell a hyperlocal story rather than abstract art. If you skip this stop, the route shaves off about 20 minutes.

Head south from RiNo into Five Points along Downing Street, then turn west on 26th Avenue to reach Welton Street. The block between 26th and 27th holds some of Denver's oldest surviving murals — portraits of jazz legends who played the Rossonian Hotel and the old Five Points clubs. The faces are large, rendered in earth tones and deep blues against cream-colored stucco. These walls date to the early 2000s and have been retouched but never fully repainted. For more street art in this neighborhood, see our Five Points street art guide.

Your final stop sits a few blocks north of Five Points proper. Curtis Street at 30th has a cluster of murals on the east-facing walls of a row of low commercial buildings. The largest piece — a 60-foot timeline of Denver's Chicano history — was painted by Emanuel Martinez and restored in 2022. Bright reds, greens, and golds fill the wall from sidewalk to roofline. From here, you are about a 15-minute walk south on Curtis and Wynkoop back to Union Station. For the full Denver mural directory, check the Denver mural map.

Water: There are no public fountains along the RiNo stretch. Bring at least one bottle.
Shoes: Flat sidewalks the whole way, but some gravel and uneven pavement in the alley sections. Trail runners or sneakers work fine.
Sunscreen: Most stops have no overhead cover. In summer, start early or go after 4 PM to avoid the worst UV.
Camera: A phone works. If you bring a real camera, a wide-angle lens (24mm or wider) helps capture full walls from across narrow alleys.

For more Denver mural routes — including RiNo deep dives and neighborhood-specific guides — see the full Denver Murals Guide. And if you want to combine this walk with a RiNo-focused tour, read the RiNo mural walk.

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Last verified September 2026 by the 303Happenings desk. Hours, prices, and access change — confirm current details with the venue.