Aurora

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University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Bookstore Building, Aurora, Colorado, United States

Back view of UCHealth, Aurora, Colorado, United States

Research Complex 1 North Tower, north entrance, April 2020, Aurora, Colorado, United States

Research Complex 1 North Tower, east side, April 2020, Aurora, Colorado, United States

About Aurora

Aurora is Colorado's third-largest city, home to about 390,000 people on the high plains just east of Denver. It began in the 1890s as the town of Fletcher, took the name Aurora in 1907, and grew rapidly after World War II around Fitzsimons Army Hospital and Lowry Air Force Base. Today the former Fitzsimons grounds hold the Anschutz Medical Campus, one of the largest medical research centers in the region.

Aurora is one of the most diverse cities in Colorado, and it shows in its food. Havana Street and East Colfax Avenue are lined with Korean, Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Mexican and Middle Eastern restaurants and markets. Stanley Marketplace, inside a converted aviation factory, gathers restaurants, shops and a beer hall under one roof, and the Aurora Fox Arts Center stages theater in a restored 1940s movie house.

The outdoors are close at hand. Cherry Creek State Park has a reservoir for boating and swimming plus miles of trails, Aurora Reservoir is popular for paddling and fishing, and the Plains Conservation Center shows what the prairie looked like before the city arrived, with wildlife and wide views of the Rockies on clear days.

Best seasonJune to September for lake days and outdoor dining, and September to October for crisp, sunny weather.

Ideal stayOne to two days for food streets, Stanley Marketplace and Cherry Creek State Park.

ArrivingDenver International Airport is about 20 miles northeast, and the R Line light rail runs through the city.

Why People Love Aurora: 11 Things to Discover

Food and Drink 2

Stanley Marketplace

For decades this long industrial building on the edge of the former Stapleton airport housed Stanley Aviation, a company founded b...

Havana Street

Stretching several miles through north and central Aurora, Havana Street has become one of the most diverse dining corridors in th...

Parks 1

Cherry Creek State Park

Built around a reservoir created by a flood control dam completed in 1950, this roughly 4,000-acre state park feels surprisingly w...

Nature 3

Aurora Reservoir

Out on the open plains in southeast Aurora, this city-owned drinking water reservoir doubles as a quiet recreation area. An approx...

Plains Conservation Center

This preserve protects about 1,100 acres of native shortgrass prairie, giving a rare glimpse of what the land looked like before f...

Morrison Nature Center at Star K Ranch

Along Sand Creek in north Aurora, this nature center sits within the Star K Ranch open space, a pocket of cottonwood groves and gr...

History 2

Gully Homestead

Built around 1870, this modest frame farmhouse is among the oldest surviving structures in Aurora, the home of settlers Thomas and...

DeLaney Farm Historic District

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this former family farm along the High Line Canal preserves a rare round barn...

Museums 1

Aurora History Museum

Housed within the city's municipal center complex, this small museum tells how a dusty town called Fletcher, founded in 1891 and r...

Arts 1

Aurora Fox Arts Center

Opened in 1946 as a neighborhood movie house on East Colfax Avenue, the Fox was rescued and converted into a live theater that now...

Shopping 1

Southlands Lifestyle Center

Designed as an open-air town center rather than an enclosed mall, Southlands lays out shops, restaurants, a cinema and services al...

Businesses in Aurora

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Top-rated local businesses in Aurora, with real reviews on WiserMap.

Mobile Phone Repair

The Phone Plug

5.0(3)

2155 S Chambers Rd, Aurora

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Jewelry Repair

Jewelry Center

5.0(5)

15473 E Hampden Ave E, Aurora

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water damage restoration service

PuroClean of Aurora South

5.0(3)

4255 S Buckley Rd, Aurora

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Photo: Zenhaus, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Photo: Jeffrey Beall, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Photo: Jeffrey Beall, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Jeffrey Beall, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Photo: Jeffrey Beall, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Photo: Jeffrey Beall, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Jeffrey Beall, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

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Photo: Alexofdodd at English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0