Editing Denver (section)

==Parks and recreation==
{{As of|2006}}, Denver had over 200 parks, from small [[pocket park]]s all over the city to the giant {{convert|314|acre|km2|adj=on}} [[City Park, Denver|City Park]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.denvergov.org/parks/|title=Denver Parks & Recreation: Parks Division|publisher=City and County of Denver|access-date=August 18, 2006}}</ref> Denver also has 29 recreation centers providing places and programming for resident's recreation and relaxation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.denvergov.org/TabId/37910/TopicId/1434/default.aspx |title=Recreation Centers and Programs |publisher=City and County of Denver |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070909091536/http://www.denvergov.org/TabId/37910/TopicId/1434/default.aspx |archive-date=September 9, 2007 |access-date=February 3, 2016}}</ref>

Many of Denver's parks were acquired from state lands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This coincided with the [[City Beautiful]] movement, and Denver mayor [[Robert W. Speer|Robert Speer]] (1904–12 and 1916–18) set out to expand and beautify the city's parks. Reinhard Schuetze was the city's first [[landscape architect]], and he brought his German-educated landscaping genius to [[Washington Park, Denver|Washington Park]], [[Cheesman Park, Denver|Cheesman Park]], and [[City Park, Denver|City Park]] among others. Speer used Schuetze as well as other landscape architects such as [[Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.]] and [[Saco Rienk DeBoer]] to design not only parks such as [[Civic Center, Denver|Civic Center Park]], but many city parkways and tree-lawns. Cheesman Park neighbor the [[Denver Botanic Gardens]] displays the beauty and versatility of micro-climates within the semi-arid [[Denver Basin]]. All of these parks were fed with [[South Platte River]] water diverted through the city ditch.<ref>Etter, Carolyn and Don. City of Parks: The Preservation of Denver's Park and Parkway System. The Denver Public Library 2005.</ref>

In addition to the parks within Denver, the city acquired land for [[Denver Mountain Parks|mountain parks]] starting in the 1911s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mountainparkshistory.org/Parks/index.html |title=Denver Mountain Parks History: Park Descriptions |publisher=Denver Mountain Parks Foundation |access-date=September 26, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013130345/http://mountainparkshistory.org/Parks/index.html |archive-date=October 13, 2007 }}</ref> Over the years, Denver has acquired, built and maintained approximately {{convert|14000|acre|km2}} of mountain parks, including [[Red Rocks Park]], which is known for its scenery and musical history revolving around the unique [[Red Rocks Amphitheatre]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.denvergov.org/Mountain_Parks|title=Denver Mountain Parks |publisher=City and County of Denver |access-date=September 26, 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061205045831/http://denvergov.org/Mountain_Parks/|archive-date=December 5, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.denvergov.org/Mountain_Parks/MountainParks/MountainParks21/tabid/391213/Default.aspx |title=Denver Mountain Parks: Red Rocks Park |publisher=City and County of Denver |access-date=September 26, 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061205045831/http://denvergov.org/Mountain_Parks/|archive-date=December 5, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Denver also owns the mountain on which the [[Winter Park Resort]] ski area operates in [[Grand County, Colorado|Grand County]], {{convert|67|mi|km|-1}} west of Denver.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1216/is_1_204/ai_58517783 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120604124552/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1216/is_1_204/ai_58517783/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 4, 2012 |title=Winter's tale&nbsp;– Winter Park Resort in Colorado |author=Lora J. Finnegan |publisher=Sunset |date=January 2000 |access-date=September 26, 2007 }}</ref> City parks are important places for Denverites and visitors, inciting controversy with every change. Denver continues to grow its park system with the development of many new parks along the Platte River through the city, and with Central Park and [[Bluff Lake Nature Center]] in the [[Central Park, Denver|Central Park]] neighborhood redevelopment. All of these parks are important gathering places for residents and allow what was once a dry plain to be lush, active, and green. Denver is also home to a large network of public [[community gardens]], most of which are managed by [[Denver Urban Gardens]], a non-profit organization.

Since 1974, Denver and the surrounding jurisdictions have rehabilitated the urban South Platte River and its tributaries for recreational use by hikers and cyclists. The main stem of the South Platte River Greenway runs along the South Platte {{convert|35|mi|km}} into Adams County in the north. The Greenway project is recognized as one of the best urban reclamation projects in the U.S., winning, for example, the Silver Medal [[Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence]] in 2001.<ref name="Bruner Foundation">{{cite web|title=Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence|url=http://www.brunerfoundation.org/rba|publisher=Bruner Foundation|access-date=September 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914092210/http://www.brunerfoundation.org/rba/|archive-date=September 14, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{As of|2022}}, Park Score by the [[Trust for Public Land]], a national land conservation organization, reported Denver as having the 18th best park system among the 50 most populous U.S. cities. The report noted that 89% of Denverites live within a 10-minute walk of a park.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Denver ParkScore 2022 |url=https://parkserve.tpl.org/mapping/historic/2022_ParkScoreRank.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524193314/https://parkserve.tpl.org/mapping/historic/2022_ParkScoreRank.pdf |archive-date=2022-05-24 |url-status=live |access-date=November 19, 2022 |website=Trust for Public Land - Parkserve}}</ref>
{{Further|Urban Land Conservancy}}

<gallery widths="140" class="center">
File:The 1908 pavilion in Denver, Colorado's, Cheesman Park LCCN2015633572.tif|[[Cheesman Park]] started as a cemetery.
File:Carla Madison Recreation Center.JPG|The Carla Madison Recreation Center, completed in 2017
File:Red Rocks Amphitheater.JPG|Red Rocks is a Denver park and world-famous amphitheater in the foothills.
File:Washington Park Denver.JPG|Washington Park
File:Dmp.JPG|[[Genesee Park (Colorado)|Genesee Park]] is the largest of the Denver Mountain Parks.
</gallery>