AIDS Memorial Grove
Just a few hundred feet downstream from Confluence Park and literally in the shadow of the 15th St. viaduct, a few acres of land has remained wild since earliest Denver history. A minor watercourse draining Lower Downtown into the river subjects this area, once called The Seeps, to flooding during spring runoff, so it has never held a permanent structure. Then, with its incorporation into Commons Park, it won a perpetual conservation easement. In 2000 it was honored as a quiet area of natural beauty, contemplation, and regeneration as The AIDS Memorial Grove of the City of Denver and the State of Colorado. With nothing more than walkways, benches, and a dedication inscription, it is as likely as any part of the city to retain its original appearance before Denver was ever settled.