Sixteen days every January · National Western Complex
Where to Stay for the National Western Stock Show
The short version
The National Western Stock Show runs sixteen days every January at the National Western Complex, about two and a half miles northeast of downtown Denver. The 2027 edition is January 9 to 24. Nothing near the complex is a genuine walk — routed on foot the nearest hotel in our set is 0.83 miles and everything downtown is two and a half to three and a half miles — so this is a trip where you choose your base on food and evenings and plan on a short ride each morning. The useful thing almost nobody tells you: any ticketed event includes free parking and grounds admission, and there is a free shuttle from Coors Field.
Where to book
RiNo — closest with real options
The nearest hotels to the complex, and the best food and brewery scene in the city for the evening afterwards. Routed on foot the closest of them is 0.83 miles from the grounds, so figure seventeen to twenty-five minutes walking or a few minutes by car — which in January is not really a choice.
Downtown — more rooms, more brands, a short ride
Two and a half to three and a half miles out, which is a car or the N Line rather than a walk. What you get is the full range of hotels, the 16th Street FreeRide, and the parade route on your doorstep if you are here for the kick-off.
LoDo and Union Station — the transit answer
The N Line runs from Union Station to a station at the complex itself, which makes this the one base where you can do the whole trip without a car. It is also the most expensive sleep in Denver, so weigh that against the ride you are avoiding.
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When is the National Western Stock Show?
Sixteen days in mid-to-late January. The 2027 show runs January 9 to 24; the 2026 show ran January 10 to 25 and was the 120th. The kick-off parade is the day before opening — Thursday, January 7, 2027, at noon.
The pattern across recent years is a sixteen-day run starting on the second Saturday of January, which puts the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend inside it. That is not published as a rule by the organizers, so treat it as a reliable shape rather than a guarantee, and check the official dates before booking a non-refundable room.
The parade is worth planning around even if you never go to the grounds. It starts at Union Station, runs twelve blocks down 17th Street and finishes at 17th and Glenarm, with more than thirty Longhorn cattle walking through downtown Denver alongside horses, marching bands and tractors. It has run every January since the 1960s.
How big is it, really?
Bigger than visitors expect. The 2026 show drew 750,039 people across its sixteen days — an all-time record, beating the 726,972 set in 2006. The Junior Livestock Auction totaled $1,875,500, and the grand champion market steer sold for $320,000.
Attendance has regularly exceeded 700,000 in recent years, which is the number to hold in your head when you are deciding how far ahead to book. Denver in January is otherwise a quiet lodging month, and the Stock Show is the thing that changes that.
Do you need separate tickets for the rodeo?
Yes — grounds admission and rodeo tickets are separate. But the detail that saves money runs the other way: all ticketed events include free parking and grounds admission, so a rodeo ticket already covers your entry to the grounds and your car. Buying both is a common and avoidable mistake.
Pricing is tiered by adult, child three to eleven, and free for under-twos, with a Guest Badge covering all sixteen days if you are going more than a couple of times. Ticketing runs through Ticketmaster and 2027 prices go on sale in fall 2026.
The rodeo slate recurs year to year even though the dates move: Colorado vs the World, the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza, PBR bull riding, the MLK Jr. African-American Heritage Rodeo on the holiday weekend, plus first responder, military appreciation and Pink Pro rodeos. Mutton bustin' — children aged five to seven and under fifty-five pounds, riding sheep — runs on the grounds and is the single best thing to watch if you have never been.
The trade show is open Sunday to Thursday from 9am to 8pm and Friday and Saturday from 9am to 9pm.
Where do you park, and is there a train?
There is free on-site parking at the Denver Coliseum and Lot F, first come first served, and a free park-and-ride from Coors Field Lot A at 1601 Park Ave W. That lot opens at 8am and complimentary shuttles run every ten to fifteen minutes to the Hall of Education, continuing until an hour after the final rodeo ends.
The RTD N Line has a station at the complex — 48th Ave/Brighton Blvd at National Western Center, 4903 N Brighton Blvd — running from Union Station. Note that this station has no RTD parking, so it works as a way to arrive from a downtown hotel and not as a park-and-ride.
Rideshare drop-off and pick-up is at 4655 Humboldt Street, in front of the complex and the Denver Coliseum. In January, with ice on the roads and the lots busy, this is what most visitors staying downtown actually do.
What has changed at the complex?
A great deal. The National Western Center's first two construction phases completed in the fourth quarter of 2025. Open now: the Stockyards Event Center, a 46,000 square foot LEED Gold building; The Yards, fourteen acres of hardscaped event space; six acres of riverfront open space along the South Platte; the Livestock Center, completed December 2025; CSU Spur; and the Stock Show's own Legacy Building.
The 51st Avenue Bridge is open to cars, pedestrians and bikes, carrying the People's Bridge of the Sun installation by Denver artist David Ocelotl Garcia.
What is not built is the planned equestrian center and hotel. That project sits outside the first two phases and is at the procurement stage with two shortlisted partners; the official completion date is listed as to be determined. If you read somewhere that a hotel is opening on the campus, no date for one exists.
How far ahead should you book?
Early. The Stock Show runs an official Marriott room-block program, and for 2027 the twelve participating hotels listed rates from $109 to $169 a night with booking cutoffs falling between December 18 and 25, 2026. Those cutoffs are the honest deadline rather than a marketing one.
We are not going to tell you the city sells out, because no official source says that and plenty of guides assert it. What is verifiably true is that this is Denver's largest January event by a wide margin, that attendance has topped 700,000 in recent years, and that the official room block has a hard December cutoff. Book by early December and the question does not arise.
The block spans downtown Denver, Broomfield, Golden, Aurora and the airport area, so read the location before the rate — the $109 rate is the Marriott out in Golden, which is a long drive each way in January weather.
Keep reading
How this guide got made
A mix of things: Google ratings and review counts, weighted so a 4.5 with two thousand reviews beats a 5.0 with eleven; walking distances routed over real sidewalks rather than measured as the crow flies; and a decent amount of opinion from someone who lives here and has been in most of these lobbies.
Hotels move, though. Rooftop pools close for the winter. Parking that was free in March costs $50 by June. A dog policy grows a weight limit. Everything here was checked in August 2026, and we go back through it every quarter — but the hotel is the only one who knows what's true today. So if one specific detail is the reason you're booking — the pool, the shuttle at 4am, whether the dog comes — take ninety seconds and call them. Then go enjoy Denver.
Rate links go to Expedia and earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes the order — the ranking is the ranking, and plenty of places we recommend pay us nothing. More about how this site works.
Frequently asked questions
When is the National Western Stock Show 2027?
January 9 to 24, 2027 — sixteen days, as it runs every year. The kick-off parade is Thursday January 7 at noon, starting at Union Station and running twelve blocks down 17th Street to Glenarm, with more than thirty Longhorn cattle walking through downtown.
Where should you stay for the Stock Show?
RiNo and Five Points are the closest neighborhoods with real hotels — routed on foot the nearest is 0.83 miles from the complex, so seventeen to twenty-five minutes walking or a few minutes by car. Downtown and LoDo are two and a half to three and a half miles out but have far more rooms, better evenings, and the N Line running directly to a station at the complex.
Is parking free at the National Western Stock Show?
Yes, in two ways. There is free on-site parking at the Denver Coliseum and Lot F on a first-come basis, and a free park-and-ride from Coors Field Lot A with complimentary shuttles every ten to fifteen minutes from 8am until an hour after the last rodeo. Separately, every ticketed event includes free parking and grounds admission, so a rodeo ticket already covers both.
Can you take the train to the Stock Show?
Yes. RTD's N Line runs from Union Station to a station at the complex itself — 48th Ave/Brighton Blvd at National Western Center. There is no RTD parking at that station, so it works for arriving from a downtown hotel rather than as a park-and-ride.
How many people go to the Stock Show?
750,039 attended the 2026 show across its sixteen days, an all-time record that beat the previous mark of 726,972 from 2006. Attendance has regularly topped 700,000 in recent years.
Do you need a rodeo ticket to visit the Stock Show?
No — grounds admission is its own ticket and covers the trade show, the yards, mutton bustin' and the kids' shows. Rodeos, horse shows and special competitions need separate tickets, and those tickets include grounds admission and parking, so buying both separately wastes money.