The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) is the reason Denver-area museums, the zoo and the botanic gardens open their doors for free on set days each year. SCFD publishes the official calendar at scfd.org/free-days. We pulled the dates below from that calendar and confirmed each on the institution’s own site on Sept. 24, 2026. Rules vary: some free days are walk-up, some require timed tickets that sell out, and free admission usually excludes special exhibitions, IMAX and planetarium shows.
Free days by date
- Fri, Sept. 25: Four Mile Historic Park, 10-4 (free every fourth Friday). Children’s Museum of Denver Joy Park free night, 4:30-8 (per SCFD).
- Fri-Sat, Sept. 25-26: Denver Firefighters Museum, free both days of Doors Open Denver.
- Sun, Sept. 27: Dinosaur Ridge exhibit hall, 9-5, with Paleo ArtFest 9-3.
- Wed, Sept. 30: Denver Museum of Nature & Science Home School Day, free for homeschool families with registration.
- Thu, Oct. 1: Colorado Railroad Museum, 10-3, online reservation required. Molly Brown House Museum free First Thursday, 4-7 p.m., for SCFD-county residents.
- Fri, Oct. 9: Forney Museum of Transportation, 10-5.
- Sat, Oct. 10: Denver Firefighters Museum, 10-4, for Fire Prevention Week.
- Sun, Oct. 11: Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 9-5.
- Tue, Oct. 13: Denver Art Museum free day for all ages (walk-ins accepted; reserving online is encouraged).
- Fri, Oct. 23: Four Mile Historic Park, fourth-Friday free day.
- Sat, Nov. 7: Night at the Museums: DMNS 5-10 p.m., Forney 5-10 p.m., Denver Art Museum (evening). Molly Brown House Museum free First Thursday moves to Thu, Nov. 5.
- Nov. 11, 14 and 22: Denver Zoo free days. Online tickets only, released Oct. 28, Oct. 31 and Nov. 8, five per person, no walk-ups.
- Sat, Nov. 14: Denver Botanic Gardens Plains Conservation Center (Aurora), ticketed via Eventbrite.
- Mon, Nov. 16: Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
- Fri, Nov. 27: Denver Botanic Gardens, York Street and Chatfield Farms. Advance timed tickets released the first of the month, up to three months ahead; the August free day sold out.
- Fri, Nov. 27: Four Mile Historic Park, fourth-Friday free day.
- Tue, Dec. 8: Denver Art Museum free day.
- Thu, Dec. 17: Denver Botanic Gardens Plains Conservation Center (holiday theme).
Free for kids every day
- Denver Art Museum: general admission is free for anyone 18 and under, year-round, through its Free for Kids program.
- History Colorado Center: children are free every day; adults pay $20 (groups of 10+ adults $18). Guided field trips are $5 per student.
- Loveland Museum: not SCFD, but kids 12 and under are free and resident adults pay $7. See our listing.
Always free
Some of the best field trips in the region never charge: the Hammond’s Candies tour, the State Capitol, the Denver Mint, the Littleton Museum, Hudson Gardens, the Mines Museum of Earth Science, NCAR’s Mesa Lab and Lookout Mountain Nature Center. Browse them all under Free Field Trips.