It's the kind of late-June weekend where you build the plan around the sun instead of against it. Highs in Castle Rock land in the upper 80s both days, the kind of heat that turns the trail you love at noon into the trail you regret. So this week leans early, shaded, or after dark. One more date to keep in your head: your primary ballot is due Tuesday, and this is the weekend to deal with it.
Six picks for the weekend.
1. The Colorado Renaissance Festival, Larkspur
It is a festival weekend (the season runs every Saturday and Sunday through August 2), and late June is the sweet spot before July brings the worst of the heat and the biggest crowds. Gates open at 10 a.m. The move: be there by 10:15, do the jousting and the shaded artisan lanes before noon, and be in the beer garden with a turkey leg by the time the sun gets mean. Buy tickets in advance at King Soopers and pay $29 instead of $32 at the gate. It is Exit 174 off I-25. We wrote the full how-to-do-it-right guide.
2. Sip and Savor, Saturday night, Castle Rock
The chamber's wine-and-bourbon tasting takes over the Philip S. Miller amphitheatre on Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m.: tastings, food vendors, artisans, and live music as the temperature finally breaks. It is 21-and-up, so bring ID. This is the rare DougCo event that is better at dusk than at midday, which makes it the right Saturday-night anchor for a hot weekend.
3. Beat the heat: Castlewood Canyon before 9 a.m.
If you want a hike this weekend, do it early or do not do it. The South Entrance lot stays empty until about 9:30, the canyon floor runs a good 10 degrees cooler than the rim, and the Inner Canyon Loop gives you the creek, the shade, and the dam ruins before the day heats up. $9 vehicle entry. Carry more water than you think you need. This is not an April hike.
4. The free downtown walking tour, Saturday
The museum runs its monthly downtown Castle Rock walking tour on Saturday, and it is the best free hour in town: the story of the rock, the old buildings, and the quarry roots, on foot, for nothing. Pair it with a cortado from a Wilcox Street coffee shop and you have a full morning before the afternoon bakes.
5. The hot-afternoon backup: Sandbox VR or The Escape Game, Lone Tree
When the thermometer wins around 2 p.m., this is the move. Sandbox VR in Lone Tree books out 5 to 10 days ahead on weekend nights, so reserve before you commit; The Escape Game next door is the same idea for a group. Either one turns the worst three hours of a hot day into the best three. Air conditioning as a destination.
6. Deal with your ballot
The least fun pick and the most important. Colorado's primary is Tuesday, June 30, and your ballot has to be received by 7 p.m. that day, not postmarked. Drop boxes are open all weekend. If you are unaffiliated, you may vote one party's ballot, not both. We broke down every race in our Douglas County ballot guide, and we will have live results here on Tuesday night. Five minutes this weekend beats a Tuesday-afternoon scramble.
And one we wouldn't do
Skip the exposed midday trails this weekend: the Rock Park summit, the unshaded mesa loops, anything that photographs well and feels like a parking lot at 1 p.m. The reward-to-misery ratio is bad in this heat. Save the big sun-exposed stuff for a September morning and let the canyon and the shade carry you through June.
We'll see you out there. If we missed something that belongs in next week's drop, the address is on the About page.
Places mentioned
Castlewood Canyon State Park
Expansive park with hiking trails, rock climbing walls, wildlife viewing opportunities & more.
Sandbox VR
