Danielle Solzman
It’s been nearly two years since traveling to Coors Field and taking in a non-gameday ballpark tour at the home of the Colorado Rockies in October 2023.
When I first booked my Coors Field tour at the start of August 2023, I didn’t expect that the trip would come days after the most barbaric attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Many things became a blur that October as a result. It’s partly one of the reasons why it took so long for me to actually publish my piece about taking the tour. How much of it do I remember by now? I don’t know. Not all of my photos will be published here but for me, they’ll serve as a guide of the sites that we visited along the tour.
Days before my tour, I decided to watch When Colorado Went Major League as the documentary was available through the MLB app on TV. The documentary is about the process that led to Denver landing an MLB team in 1993. The club played its first games at Mile High Stadium in 1993, until Coors Field finally opened in 1995. Because the era of cookie cutter stadiums came to an end throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s as retro-classic stadiums became popular, Coors Field is now the third oldest stadium in the National League behind Wrigley Field (1914) and Dodger Stadium (1962).
When Coors Field was being built, workers discovered dinosaur fossils throughout. One rumor suggested they found a triceratops skull. This led to the team choosing Dinger (a triceratops) as its mascot. It isn’t uncommon for dinosaur fossils to be found in Colorado. Dinosaur Ridge is located not that far away from Denver. The stadium itself is located in Denver’s Lower Downtown neighborhood, making it accessible by light and commuter rail as Union Station is just two blocks away. Nearby Interstate 25 exits also make it convenient for fans traveling to the game, too.
Tours are available Monday through Saturday and start at Gate D. I was going all day and they were kind enough to let me check my tote bag for the duration of the one-mile 70–80-minute tour. While tickets are currently being offered at $36 for adults, you could take a tour for just $20 back in October 2023! Last October, they would have cost $27. Talk about inflation! There are Colorado Rockies seats that are cheaper to purchase than a tour these days. The tour was definitely worth spending $20, but I’m not so sure about $36 unless they added more sites in the past two years.
Where most tours usually finish with the clubhouse and dugout, this particular tour did the opposite. After learning some information about the stadium, the very first thing we did was head to the field and took in the view from the visitor’s dugout along third base.
Because my tour preceded Todd Helton’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, his retired #17 does not feature the HOF lettering that is visible on Larry Walker’s #33. The KSM stands for late Colorado Rockies president Keli McGregor. There is a banner for the 2007 National League pennant as well.
From there, we went to the visitor’s clubhouse. If you’ve seen one clubhouse, you’ve more or less seen them all so to speak. But that being said, it’s really not much different from other clubhouses. Some will have team logos or player photos above the lockers. This wasn’t the case. At least not that I can recall. We walked by the entrance to the Colorado Rockies clubhouse but did not go in.
The next stop was the Frank Haraway Press Box at Coors Field. Along the back wall was Larry Walker’s #33.
Not far from the press box is a Mickey Mouse statue. The statue is one of many that were produced for the 2010 All-Star Game at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif. To date, the Rockies’ statue of Mickey Mouse is the only one that I have seen during a tour.
After the press box, we strolled through the Vivid Seats Club Level. The interior is air-conditioned, spacious and carpeted. This level at Coors Field is also home to one of the Apples on Parade designed for the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field.
We walked through the club level to reach the Mountain Ranch Club overlooking right field. The club overs premium open-air seating around spacious tables in the lower tiers inside and outside. Tables of two or four are available and they come with their own TV. Ticketed guests have access to a complimentary buffet. Various mementoes adorn the walls.
Next up was The Rooftop. The standing room area is open to all ticketed guests and offers views of the stadium and the Rocky Mountains. If you pay attention closely, you can see row of purple seats. This marks the location where it is a mile above sea level.
Towards the end, we walked by The SandLot Brewery. First opened in 1995, it was the first brewery to be established in a Major League Baseball stadium. The taproom is closed on non-gamedays.
There are no particular player statues outside the stadium. One would think that there would be statues of Hall of Famers Larry Walker or Todd Helton. Instead, the only statue outside the stadium’s home plate entrance is that of The Player, a larger version of the Rotary Club of Denver’s Branch Rickey Award, issued 1992-2014 in recognition of a player’s exceptional community service.
As for Denver’s skyline or the Rocky Mountains, the best views that I took in on the tour was from The Rooftop.
Coors Field tour tickets can be purchased here.
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