Tour Options

Enjoy your time while in Denver.  ESA has organized the below tour options for you to explore the city while you are here.  All tour options can be purchased during the resgstration process.  If insufficient tour enrollment causes a professional or destination tour to be cancelled, ESA will issue a full refund after the meeting closes.  Standard registration cancellation fees apply to all tours.

Saturday, Nov. 4

Fun in the Foothills 
$155 per person (includes boxed lunch at the Tavern) │ 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Stretches of nature’s beauty lay out before you today. Breathe in the fresh pine smell and instantly feel the calm wash over you. With an experienced guide at your side, you will explore the stunning forest on foot, taking in all of the magnificent scenery that surrounds every inch of you. From Denver, the fabulous Rocky Mountains are never far away. Today your exploration will take you to the foothills where mere steps transform your day from city to mountains in minutes. 
 

Sunday, Nov. 5

The Lightning Bug Run
$28 per person | Check-in 6:00 AM, Run starts at 6:30 AM

Denver's ever present sunshine and Rocky Mountain Skyline make it a runner's paradise year round. Learn about the history and culture of Denver, tour public art installations and climb the stairs of the State Capitol building that mark Denver's mile-high elevation. This unique tour will be led at different paces to accommodate all levels with designated stops along the way. Pre-registration is required.

 

Butterfly Pavilion
$35 per person |  2:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Butterfly Pavilion is a non-profit, invertebrate zoo with the mission of fostering an appreciation of butterflies and other invertebrates while educating the public about the need for conservation of threatened habitats in the tropics and around the world. As the 8th largest cultural facility in Denver, and first standalone invertebrate zoo to be accredited by the AZA, we see more than 300,000 visitors a year. Over 5,000 invertebrates call the Butterfly Pavilion home in 5 unique exhibits. We feature our terrestrial invertebrates in the Crawl-A-See-Em, aquatic invertebrates in Water’s Edge, butterflies in Wings of the Tropics, extreme invertebrates in Invertebrate World and we have Outdoor Gardens and Nature Trails to support our native invertebrates.

Tuesday, Nov. 7

Denver Museum of Nature and Science
$45 per person│ 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science hosts a variety of exhibitions, programs, and activities help museum visitors learn about the natural history of Colorado, Earth, and the universe. The 716,000-square-foot (66,519 m2) building houses more than one million objects in its collections including natural history and anthropological materials, as well as archival and library resources.

The new Avenir Collections Center represents a quantum leap in collections care. The 63,000-square-foot, two-level facility provides consolidated, state-of-the-art housing for nearly 1.5 million artifacts and specimens for the first time in the Museum’s 114-year history.

The collections center was custom-made, with the Research and Collections staff heavily involved in its design and construction, right down to selecting the floor color (white, so that pests can be easily seen). The cabinets were built to specification using the highest standards in stable storage conditions. No longer will specimens, such as butterflies, be shingled or crowded in drawers. Climate control regulates temperature and humidity appropriate to each collection. In newly equipped workspaces and labs, collections can be safely, efficiently, and comfortably studied and preserved by our own scientists, conservators, and archivists as well as by researchers from around the globe.The new Avenir Collection Center ensures that the stories, science, and wonder inherent in these treasures will endure for generations.

Wednesday, Nov. 8

Butterfly Pavilion
$35 per person │ 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Butterfly Pavilion is a non-profit, invertebrate zoo with the mission of fostering an appreciation of butterflies and other invertebrates while educating the public about the need for conservation of threatened habitats in the tropics and around the world. As the 8th largest cultural facility in Denver, and first standalone invertebrate zoo to be accredited by the AZA, we see more than 300,000 visitors a year. Over 5,000 invertebrates call the Butterfly Pavilion home in 5 unique exhibits. We feature our terrestrial invertebrates in the Crawl-A-See-Em, aquatic invertebrates in Water’s Edge, butterflies in Wings of the Tropics, extreme invertebrates in Invertebrate World and we have Outdoor Gardens and Nature Trails to support our native invertebrates.