The best places to cry in Denver, from parks to parking lots

If you’re up for a good cry — and who isn’t these days? — there are plenty of solid places to do it in metro Denver.

That’s the lesson we learned from a Reddit post on the subject that first appeared last November. User Laserdollarz thoughtfully started the list, and it has grown into a 500-plus comment thread with an interactive map and regular additions (one person suggested a Broncos game, which seems fair).

The best locations have one thing in common — that no one bothers you while you’re crying. Some are destinations, with pretty views of nature or the city, and they require a bit of forethought. They offer semi-secluded areas that are also public spaces, such as Denver Botanic Gardens’ peaceful pine and bamboo thickets at its York Street location, or Fairmount Cemetery, at 430 S. Quebec St.

Some happen to be parking lots and garages with similarly pretty views, such as Speer Boulevard and Zuni Street, looking south at downtown. Some are places where people might be crying anyway. One of my editors suggested the Glendale-area parking lot off Colorado Boulevard that houses the Shotgun Willie’s strip club and cannabis dispensary. You’d be in good company with people who have already cried there (with “reasons way more depressing than yours,” she offered).

But since crying is usually an emotional response and not a planned activity, it can be wherever your daily routine takes you. The 16th Street Mall? Given the lack of office workers in the central business district these days, you’re guaranteed a bit of anonymity. Starbucks drive-thrus are another popular spot one of my editors suggested. If you’re at City Park or Washington Park for a walk, jog or playground visit, there are pretty lakes at hand.

Prayer, meditation and other forms of spiritual practice often break the floodgates, so houses of worship are certainly fair game. The Mother Cabrini Shrine on Lookout Mountain in Golden offers a stunning perspective on the Front Range, as does the top of the first Flatiron hogback just south of Boulder, near Eldorado Canyon. (That, by the way, is my No. 1 favorite spot). The hill on U.S. Route 36, just where it begins its descent into Boulder and just after Superior/Louisville, also feels much closer to the heavens.