5280 Magazine

For over 30 years, 5280 magazine has served its readers as an essential guide to life in the Mile-High City and beyond. Throughout those three decades, the publication has stayed true to its original mission: proudly locally owned and strongly committed to delivering award-winning journalism that tells Denver’s story with authority and style. Each month, 5280 covers the greatest and latest in dining, culture, wellness, travel, and adventure content.

5280 Magazine

5280

When Grass Isn’t Greener

The Good Race

Wild Things • A beloved Boulder grocery brand is making a comeback—as a product line of organic beverages and eggs.

The Fast & The Fur-ious • The quickest paws in Denver have a familiar hype man.

Fiction Come To Life • Beach reads, poolside paperbacks, late-night page-turners: Summer books are typically our tickets out of reality. But these three forthcoming novels from Colorado authors offer a different kind of escape by reflecting our world back at us, grounding big ideas and real-life experiences in stories that will stay with you long after the season ends.

Star Struck • This May the Fourth, visit a galaxy far, far away—without leaving Denver.

Square Meal

Hive Minded • A Boulder couple have built a sweet empire by minding their own beeswax.

Animal Style • Pig and Tiger’s modern take on Taiwanese cuisine offers a melange of bold flavors and traditional ingredients.

MOVING ON UP • Pig and Tiger got its start inside Boulder’s Avanti Food & Beverage, a food hall chain known for incubating restaurant talent. Here, a few other Avanti grads that have made the brick-and-mortar leap.

Desert Solitaire • In Colorado’s remote Dominguez Canyon Wilderness, the miles are hard, the water scarce, and the rewards worth every miscalculation.

Kill Your Lawn • HOW TO BREAK UP WITH YOUR YARD’S THIRSTY TURF AND SOW A LOW-WATER LANDSCAPE THAT THRIVES IN COLORADO—AND LOOKS BEAUTIFUL DOING IT.

Turf Wars • If you just can’t quit the uniform appeal of a turf yard, consider these water-saving grasses that can handle our dry summer heat. “Kentucky bluegrass is a cool-season grass, meaning it greens up in the spring and can go dormant in our really hot summers,” Denver Water’s Bea Stratton says. “It requires 18 to 20 gallons of water per square foot, while native grasses require about six”—a more reasonable amount, given the likely drought restrictions across the metro this summer.

Take Your Pick • Ryan Harter of Xeric Garden shares five drought-tolerant, flowering perennials that flourish in Colorado’s abundant (and harsh) sunshine to create a Technicolor landscape.

By Design • Before Marissa Sterrett became the manager of Denver Botanic Gardens’ sustainable landscape services program, she spent decades designing Coloradans’ outdoor living spaces. So she understands why people are hesitant to give up their Kentucky bluegrass. “The fear is that it’s going to look deserty—full of rocks and a couple of yuccas,” Sterrett says. “Also, there’s cost associated with it and not a guarantee of having something beautiful in the end.” We asked her to share her top tips for creating lush, livable, and water-wise spaces.

Seeking Refuge • If you care about wildlife—the bees that pollinate our food, the birds that snap up pesky mosquitoes, the butterflies that remind us how miraculous nature can be—that’s just one more reason to tear up your lawn. “Animals have evolved alongside [native plants] for thousands of years,” says Braelei Hardt, a Colorado-based naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation. “They have relationships with native plants that can’t be replaced by non-native species.” Here, how you can use flora to bring fauna back to your yard.

THE 2026 GUIDE TO. REAL ESTATE IN DENVER • The city’s top 25...