Things to Do in Sherrelwood

Sandwiched between Dinosaur Ridge and the Hogback, Action Karting buzzes year-round with the sound of drivers zigzagging across its 17-turn outdoor track. The company's professional, Italian-made go-karts sport 6.5-horsepower Honda engines that power the pint-sized rides to speeds of up to 55 miles per hour. Before speedometers spring from zero, Action Karting's staff always delivers a safety speech that includes a review of hand signals, such as those for "left turn," "right turn," and "stop, collaborate, and listen." The track can also be rented out to host private events, including birthdays and corporate team-building events.

Suspended within a glass and steel bubble, passengers soar over red-rock foothills and misty mountaintops. In the distance, they can glimpse the towering steel buildings of the Mile High City. The sun glints from a golden dome, and abstract façades of modern architecture reach toward clear, blue skies dotted with clouds. Though their ears are shielded by headsets, the passengers can hear the hum of the helicopter’s blades as they slice through the air. Customers also get a chance to try their hand at piloting a helicopter on one of the simulators.

Colorado Heli-Ops's team of extensively trained pilots ferries passengers on aerial tours such as these that fly over some of their state’s most historic sites and breathtaking scenery. The sleek metal hulls of Robinson R44 helicopters provide limousine-like luxury with plush leather seats, Bose headsets, and iPod docks that invite guests to enhance flights with a personal soundtrack of emotional rock ballads. On-staff photographers can professionally capture tour memories with high-powered lenses affixed to 15MP Canon cameras and develop all images in house after the flight.

Pilots also use their mechanical birds to train clients for private and commercial pilot’s licenses or help them brush up on more specialized skills through programs in high-altitude and mountain flight. To enable preflight preparation and let students observe the flight patterns of digital geese, staffers operate two FAA-certified Frasca Truflight H simulators and one Merlin Turbine simulator.

A year after Scott Kerkmans created the role of Chief Beer Officer for the Four Points by Sheraton hotels, it began to get around that Denver was the "Napa Valley of Beer." As NPR later reports, the rumor is a culmination of a life spent steeped in beer culture. Before creating Colorado Beer Week and beating out more than 7,000 applicants for the title of CBO, Kerkmans was on the production side at Alaskan Brewing Company. He’s since authored articles for Draft Magazine, taught at Cook Street School of Fine Cooking, and judged burped renditions of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Great American Beer Festival. He shares his taste in microbrews with more than 140 hotels and restaurants worldwide through the Four Point's beer program, but keeps his feet planted firmly on his home turf during his nine-day spring festival, which highlights the finest pours from Colorado breweries including New Belgium, Oskar Blues, and Ska Brewing Company.

Diving for more than 30 years, Ron Busch—PADI master instructor and owner of Coral Key Scuba & Travel Center—first decided to share his passion for underwater exploration in 1995 by building a facility that catered to all facets of scuba and snorkeling. Since its construction, the center has been recognized as a PADI five-star training center that offers scuba and snorkeling classes, professional gear, and diving trips to far-off locales such as Isla Mujeres. An avid traveler, Busch entrusts day-to-day duties to the center's manager, a PADI master scuba diver and trainer, Randy Partch, who teaches 22 different diving specialties and boasts certification to repair and service many different brands of scuba equipment and one kind of Xerox machine. Factory-trained technicians populate the center's repair shop, mending, maintaining, and returning equipment back to owners with an average one-week turnaround.

Established in 1908, Lakeside Amusement Park maintains its turn-of-the-century charm while embracing modern amenities and attractions. An adrenaline-pumping drop tower and a slew of neon-hued, spinning rides contrast the classic joy of a wooden roller coaster, which rises from its perch near the lake. Likewise, a retro silver train transports passengers and vaudevillian apparitions throughout the picturesque grounds.

The all-ages park also comprises Kiddies' Playland, a place where tots can get their fun fix on boats, animal-themed rides, and pint-sized motorcycles. The facility also accommodates large groups with on-site picnic grounds perfect for birthday parties or applesauce fights.