Visit

Parking in town is paid — a modest charge that helps this little place keep welcoming visitors while preserving its character. You must register your license plate at one of the town kiosks (or by scanning the posted instructions on the signs) every time you park. The first thirty minutes are free, but only if your plate is registered. The kiosks take a moment. The signs are everywhere.

Or skip the meter altogether. There is ample free parking at Morrison Park, just east of downtown — look for the signs east of the park. From there, hop onto the paved sidewalk that runs under Highway 8 and meanders along Bear Creek straight into the old historic district. No road crossings. The trail is flat, generously wide, and well tended; the creek runs alongside the whole way. The shop is less than half a mile from the park; the edge of the retail district is closer still. Park for free, walk in, walk back out. It’s part of the experience.

Get directions to Morrison Park →

If you’re staying the day — the shops, the trails, Bear Creek — please park considerately, so neighbors and fellow visitors can find a spot too. We appreciate your care.

Morrison is twenty minutes from downtown Denver and a whole world away. Tucked where the plains give way to red rock and canyon, just beyond the hogback at the doorway of the Rockies, it is a town small enough to cross on foot and rich enough to fill a day.

Long before we were planning The Little Wren Shop, two careful souls compiled walking guides to this town — one in 1975 by Lorene Horton, one in 1987 by the Jefferson County Historical Society. They are tattered at the edges now, the paper yellowed, but the routes still hold.

We’re sharing them here, scanned as we have them. Download either or both, print them, fold them into your back pocket, and follow along. Many of the houses still stand. The stories are still true.