People have a lot of ways of categorizing major league ballparks. When they talk about the view, it’s PNC Park. When it comes to history, it’s Fenway Park or Wrigley Field. Coors Field in Denver doesn’t have the view of PNC or the history of Fenway or Wrigley, but it’s got a lot of reasons for you to visit.
It wasn’t long into my first visit to Coors Field back in 2016 that I distinctly remember thinking, “I’m pretty certain this is going to be one of my favorite ballparks.”
All these years later, I haven’t backed away from this opinion. When I meet baseball fans who ask about my travels, I’m quick to list the downtown Denver park as a must-visit stop. There are an awful lot of things that make Coors Field a place that is worth checking out. Take a look at my five favorite things — and then make some plans to visit Denver yourself and find out what you love about this gem of a ballpark.
This is the fifth edition of my “Five Things I Love” series, which looks at five random things that I absolutely love about each ballpark I’ve visited. This is a series that celebrates the sometimes subtle things that make ballpark experiences enjoyable and memorable, and hopefully encourages you to think about your favorite features at each park you visit.
Here are five things I love about Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies:
1. The Purple Seating Row
Denver is the Mile High City, but if you have an inquiring mind, you might wonder where you need to go to be exactly a mile above sea level. Coors Field offers a simple answer in the form of a row of purple seats in the upper deck that dramatically stands out against the sea of dark green seats. This row — row #20, for those keeping score — represents exactly one mile (5,280 feet) above sea level. You can keep this row number in mind when you browse tickets online in advance of your visit, but it’s also easy to visit the upper deck once you get into the park to check out the seats even if you’re sitting elsewhere — and grab a selfie, of course.
2. The Batter’s Eye
Without question, the batter’s eye at Coors Field is my favorite in all of baseball. But I’m not talking about the plain green wall in this area — I’m talking about the nature features directly in front of it. This picturesque space was designed to reflect the landscape of the Rocky Mountains, which are visible in the distance if you sit behind home plate. The area features a variety of evergreen trees, plenty of rocks and a fountain that erupts after Rockies home runs and wins. It’s such a natural and serene-looking area that you almost feel you could spot a deer or mountain goat pausing to take a sip from the pond. When you visit Coors Field, I can’t recommend enough that you spend some time enjoying this space from above.
3. The Rockpile
I always love looking for unique seating sections at the different ballparks I visit, and the one that stands out to me the most at Coors Field is the Rockpile. It’s situated in deep center field, and when I say deep, I really mean it. The Rockpile is made of bleacher seats and can accommodate 2,300 fans. A lot of fans love it because of its affordability — tickets are just a few bucks, which is a rarity in today’s game — but I love it because it’s so different. It feels like you’re a million miles from home plate, and you’re also really high up, which gives you a unique view of the action. I probably wouldn’t want to spend an entire game sitting in the Rockpile, but I can’t imagine visiting Coors Field without spending at least an inning or two in this unique spot.
4. The Garden
If you follow this blog for ballpark food content that rarely includes veggies, you might want to skip forward a paragraph. The next thing that I love about Coors Field is its on-site garden, aptly known as the Garden. It’s a 600-foot space next to Gate A that grows vegetables and herbs for the ballpark’s Mountain Ranch Club restaurant. The Garden is shaped like a baseball field and it has a diverse selection of crops, including some things that are purple — purple basil, for instance — to tie into the Rockies colors. While I don’t think I consumed any produce from the Garden during my three games at Coors Field — my meals were rib tips, chocolate-dipped bacon, Rocky Mountain oysters, and a cheeseburger — I love that many meals on the ballpark’s menu contain ingredients that are grown about as local as you can get.
5. The Rooftop
No visit to Coors Field is complete without spending some time in The Rooftop, a 38,000-foot space in the upper deck in right field that opened in 2014. It’s got multiple levels of standing room, plenty of seating and even some cabanas when you need shelter from the sun on a hot afternoon. When it was built, it was the largest rooftop space at any sports venue in the world. It’s the liveliest area of the park, with pregame live entertainment and an assortment of tailgating games. Its height not only gives you a neat view of the field, but you’ll also enjoy seeing the Rocky Mountains and Denver’s skyline — two sights that are particularly enjoyable as the sun sets. If you work up an appetite or a thirst from your journey to The Rooftop, there are multiple bars and eateries.
