Barnum Park

Love this park. It has amazing views, two playgrounds and a place for dogs to be off their leash. The rec center is nice and the pool is really cool for kids. But the best thing about this park is the amazing view for sure!

Denver’s best kept secret! I’m excited for the bridge opening and for the construction to be over with. It will be nice when the trail connects this gem to the rest of downtown. Ride your bike here next summer and watch ALL of Denver’s fireworks in one place.

The park is very nice. People are right. But, lamentably, the reason I went to this park was the off-​leash part… which is closed. The views are great, the park is lush, and the rec center looks great. But my hound was terribly disappointed, he had to stay on a leash the WHOLE TIME. So sad. Hoping it is only for renovation, and then we can go back later.

Better views than city park, less crowded than sloan’s lake, less uhhh pretentious than wash park. My favorite park in Denver for throwing a baseball or taking in the views! Also more diverse than most parks in town, easy to get to as well! Enjoy.

Beautiful views. Great park. Lots of grass and a great pool in the summer. Perfect park to walk the dog around the water, watch the geese and enjoy the sunset. Love it.

This is a pretty good park. I like how large it is, and it’s fairly clean. The pool and the recreation center are alright. They both get pretty crowded, but I think it’s better on weekdays.
The park has a swing set, a tennis court, a basketball court and lots of picnic areas. However, the picnic areas aren’t ad clean as the rest of the park.
Overall, this a pretty cool place to hang out and study when the weather’s nice. It’s also a good place for walks and jogging, and I always see happy dogs playing here.

I LOVE taking my dogs here. There’s grass and tons of space, which is very hard to find in Denver. It’s not completely fenced in but there is a long metal fence along the busy road. However, if your dog is a wanderer and doesn’t listen very well, he/​she could easily take off in the other direction. It’s never overly crowded and those that do come are very friendly, pretty attentive to their dogs and the dogs are friendly. It’s common to find some dog poop — even though there are bags provided. I don’t know why, but that’s another thing I’ve noticed about Denver — there are several lazy or negligent owners.
There isn’t anyone on-​site, so please, if your dog is aggressive at all, don’t bring him/​her. Also make sure you are up-​to-​date with vaccines. That isn’t fun for anyone.
The view of downtown is great! And there is a pond which I heard has been worked on so it’s clean.
I haven’t had any problems with people, but I can see how you could run into something there. It’s not «ghetto» but it’s also not pristine, just a normal neighborhood. I saw two men drinking beers at a picnic table once, but they weren’t obnoxious or intrusive — they were actually quite nice!

The splash pad doesn’t open until 11 AM on Saturdays (not sure if that’s year-​round, but that’s the case today in July 2013). I couldn’t find the hours so showed up 10 AM with my toddler in his swimsuit and flip flops. After trying to explain that it wasn’t open yet, I was able to eventually get him to the play area (hoping to distract him until it opened). We had to leave though. He kept picking up used popsicle sticks, there was broken glass, and I kept imagining everything he touch being covered in hobo piss.
I would go back to the splash pad though. It looked really nice and it was situated in a fenced in area that was well kept. Not sure if there was a fee to use though since it was fenced off and access was through the rec center.
Also it was a bit tricky to find. If I had just gone West on 3^rd from Federal, I would’ve found it more easily.

This is THE place for amazing views of Denver. This area is so flat, Barnum Park is lucky to be perched up on a hill, providing unobstructed views of our fair city.
There’s a small lake here, and a great paved path. You can actually follow this path to the southwest, following the Weir Gulch trail – you’ll eventually cross Alameda, and pop out onto Sheridan. Paved the whole way, a little sketchy in some areas, but overall very lovely.
At night, the sub-​slide area provides shelter for homeless people. Again, amazing views, but if you hear a rustling behind you under the play equipment, it’s a dude. Or a few. Just be careful.
The rec center here is just fine – a little aged, but not bad, and super cheap to use. In the summer, they have a pool that’s fairly busy, but never super packed.

We used to take our dog, a border collie/​chow chow mix here all the time. We have since stopped since last fall when we tried to take her and ended up running into a bunch of gang members congregating around the area– I’m not comfortable with this. It is nice because it has grass and the other dogs that show up tend to be pretty friendly, but the sketchy people that show up makes us not want to go back.
A separate time, a girl approached us, no dog, offering to go around and pick up our dogs poop (weird, I think we can take care of that ourselves, thanks). Her demeaner was odd and it was clear she was on something. something much worse than just pot.
We will be finding another dog park in Denver or the surrounding area until this location becomes safer.

The newly completed Barnum Splash pad — adjacent to Barnum dog park. The facility (aside from the locker rooms) is beautiful. Open 11 to 6 during the summer. Large pool, kiddie pool and impressive fountains and water toys for children. Multiple picnic areas or park yourself under a tree in the grass. A gem for west side Denver.

This is the best dog park I have seen in Denver. I love the GRASS. Dogs play pretty nicely and are well socialized. There is water where the dogs can cool off, leaving a little bit of a swampy smell. Probably not recommended. There wasn’t a water fountain that I noticed, but this isn’t as barren and sandy as others I’ve been to. And my dog found some great playmates around 9am on a work day.

I decided to swing by here on the way home since I had my dog with me and was on that side of town.
It’s a nifty little spot! And I’m always a big fan of dog amenities.
There is a small, freestanding fence every couple of yards to define the area. I took a picture so you can get an idea of what it looks like. Ultimately, it is not a fully contained enclosure, so if your dog is a runner, then maybe this is not the best park for you. For example, there’s nothing but your control of your dog to prevent him from running up and into the parking lot each time a new dog arrives.
But it’s pretty. In fact, the only thing preventing it from being completely idyllic is the nearby heavy traffic on 6^th Ave Pkwy.

I only come to this park for the off-​leash area.
Pros: grass! If you’re into that kind of thing, there is grass and plenty of it. I see so many complaints about dog parks that are just dirt or sand inside. Personally, I don’t care, but just sos you knows!
Good amount of space. I’m not sure where exactly the off-​leash area begins and ends, but it’s plenty of room to throw a ball.
Pretty view of downtown.
Cons: Hard to find! Try this: Get on 8^th ave going West, turn left on Knox, then turn left again at 5^th and you will drive straight into the parking lot.
Off-​leash area is NOT fenced in. There is a fence on one side and some definite feelings of boundaries from trees and the way the hill slopes, but if you don’t think you have good verbal control over your dog this spot is not for you.
In general I think I will stick to the parks that are fenced in. They don’t have grass, but that makes it a lot easier to pick up the poop.

I didn’t know that this park was named after PT Barnum (of circus fame) until reading Carrie R’s review! However, since the circus actually IS in town (we won’t be going because circuses are cruel and suck {see Misha R’s review} and by the way did I mention the creepy clowns?), it only seems appropriate that I review Barnum Park, our local playground-​in-​the-​hood.
It’s okay. A solid three stars.
The best thing Barnum has to offer is this: on the 4^th of July it becomes THE PLACE to do some prime firework-​watching. From atop the hill it sits on, you can get a straight-​shot view across 6^th Avenue at Mile High Stadium, where the Good Stuff Happens. Of course all the locals already know this, so the whole place gets jam-​packed at it becomes a festival unto itself. Families who’ve smuggled in thousands of dollars worth of explosive contraband (from Wyoming or points South Of The Border) compete to see who has the best, most awe-​inspiring, most crazy-lethal-holy-crap-that’s-gonna-set-those-trees-on-fire light show. No lie, sometimes those driveway displays are better than the show across the highway!
So yeah… Barnum is a great place to check out fireworks on the the 4^th, but only so-​so as far as the rest of the park goes. It’s got a nifty little lake, but the playgrounds are run-​down and pretty feeble as far as equipment goes. The rec center has seen better days. And you’d be better off avoiding it after dark…
…except on the 4^th.

For breathtaking views of downtown Denver, head to Barnum Park and climb the hill directly west of Barnum Pond. You don’t get the mountains in the background, but it’s a pretty impressive vista.
Otherwise, I found it to be quite clean and pleasant, with bathrooms located near the picnic area.
Located just off of Federal and 6^th in the Barnum neighborhood, named after P.T. Barnum of the Barnum and Bailey Circus, who purchased 760 acres in 1882 to winter his show.
Apparently, this park also a designated off-​leash area for the canine pal located in the northeast area of the park.