Updated for current event-night routing and booking paths.
Ball Arena has spent twenty-five years as the easiest big-venue park in American pro sports – a low-rise building ringed by acres of flat asphalt with three freeway-adjacent entrances. That is now changing in a way most parking guides have not caught up with. The lots are the development site, construction has started on the first parcel, and the lot being built on is one of only two general-public lots the arena sells. Here is what each lot actually costs today, which ones you cannot buy at any price, and the three specific claims that competing guides are getting wrong by a factor of two.
Ball Arena names its lots after Toyota models rather than letters or numbers, and only three of the seven are sold to the general public. The 4Runner and Tundra lots are the real public options; the RAV4 is the premium tier.
For Avalanche and Nuggets games the published gate rates are 4Runner $35, Tundra $40, Elitch's Lot $35 and RAV4 (Premier) $70. For concerts and other events the same lots run $35–$40, $40–$45, $35–$40 and $70–$75, with valet in the TRD-Pro lot at $90–$95.
Three lots are effectively invisible to a normal ticket buyer. The Camry lot is permit-only for both Avalanche and Nuggets games. The Corolla lot is permit-only for games and marked not available to public for concerts. The Tacoma lot is marked not available to public for every event type listed. If you have read that Ball Arena has enormous public parking supply, subtract those three before you plan.
One detail worth money: the Tundra lot is the only lot that accepts cash, and paying by card there takes $5 off. Cash is the expensive way to pay at the only lot that takes it.
This is the part stale guides miss. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment's first phase of the Ball Arena redevelopment – Phase 1A – sits on the 3.7-acre parcel that is currently the Tundra parking lot, and it is one of only two general-public game-day lots the arena sells.
The filed plan puts a 244-room, 13-story hotel, an entertainment venue approved for up to 5,000 seats, and two 12-story residential buildings on that footprint, over a shared underground garage. The site development plan filing lists parking for 225 vehicles in that underground garage, serving all four buildings. That is a garage for residents, hotel guests and venue patrons – not a replacement for the game-day surface lot it is built on.
Groundbreaking was set for May 2026. The wider plan covers 55 acres with five bridges and ten acres of open space, and is described as a roughly 25-year buildout toward some 6,000 housing units.
What to actually do with this: as of this writing Ball Arena still lists the Tundra lot for sale at $40 on its own parking page, so it has not vanished from the sales system. But the ground under it is committed, and surface capacity around this building only goes one direction from here. If you are the type to drive up and pay at the gate, this is the season to stop doing that. Buy the pass before you leave the house.
There are two official prebuy channels. You are prompted to add parking immediately after buying event tickets on Ticketmaster, or you can buy through LAZ Parking, the operator, at lazparking.com.
Read the arena's own fine print carefully, because it is easy to skim past: “Prices are based on arrival parking ONLY, online reservation vary.” Every figure on this page is the drive-up rate. A prepaid pass can land above or below it. That single line is why guides quoting one flat number for “Ball Arena parking” are unreliable by construction.
The arena also flags that playoff and special-event pricing is subject to change on every lot it lists. Denver has two deep playoff teams sharing this building; treat spring rates as unknown until posted.
Every Ball Arena lot lists a cheaper “Mammoth Game” rate – 4Runner $25, Tundra $30, RAV4 $60. That tier is for the Colorado Mammoth, the National Lacrosse League team that shares the building and plays a winter-into-spring schedule.
Here is the trap. The NHL now has a team called the Utah Mammoth, and Ball Arena's own calendar lists three “Colorado Avalanche vs. Utah Mammoth” home dates this season, starting September 20, 2026. Those are Avalanche games and they price as Avalanche games – $35 in the 4Runner, $40 in the Tundra – not the $25 and $30 “Mammoth” rate. Same word on the marquee, a $10 difference at the gate, and two entirely different sports.
Worth knowing too: at the time of writing the arena's public calendar carries no Colorado Mammoth home dates at all among its 121 listed events, because the lacrosse schedule posts later than the NHL and NBA ones. If a resale site is selling you a Colorado Mammoth parking pass for a date the arena has not published, treat it as unconfirmed.
The station is Ball Arena / Elitch Gardens at 1700 9th Street, and the arena sits immediately southeast of the platform – this is one of the genuinely great transit-to-venue walks in American sports.
Ball Arena's public transportation page says the stop is served by the “D, E, H & W lines.” RTD's own facility record for the station says it serves three rail lines: C, E and W. Go with RTD. The venue page is carrying old line letters – the same page set still hosts an active-voice COVID-era mask requirement, which is a fair signal of how recently parts of it were reviewed.
Fares are cheap and simple. A 3-hour pass is $2.75 and a day pass is $5.50, with discount fares at $1.35 and $2.70 for seniors 65+, riders with disabilities, Medicare recipients and LiVE enrollees. Youth 19 and under ride free on all RTD services. A family with two teenagers rides round trip for $5.50 total, against $35 to park. That is not a close call.
Two practical notes. There is no RTD parking at the Ball Arena / Elitch Gardens station itself, so the “park at the station” idea some guides float does not exist here – you park at an outlying Park-n-Ride and ride in. And the free 16th Street MallRide is currently running on 15th and 17th Streets rather than 16th during reconstruction.
The Auraria Campus sits directly across Auraria Parkway with more than 6,000 public spaces, and its Tivoli Garage is at 9th Street and Auraria Parkway – the same intersection as an arena entrance.
You will see Auraria quoted at $8.50 in other guides. That rate is real but almost never applies to you: it is the daily flat rate Monday–Thursday until 5 p.m. only. Auraria's Nights and Weekend rates run Monday–Thursday from 5 p.m. to midnight and all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and they are $30 in the Tivoli Garage and $25 in all other daily fee lots and garages, including the 7th Street Garage at Lawrence Way and 7th. Essentially every Ball Arena event starts inside that window. Auraria also states plainly that night and weekend rates are subject to change during designated special events, so a big concert night can price higher than $25.
Elitch Gardens, the theme park just north across the rail corridor, charges $30 per day Monday–Thursday and $35 Friday–Sunday and holidays, RV parking at $40, and takes electronic payment only – no cash. Buses and passenger vans with more than 15 seats park free. Those are the park's own operating-season rates, and Elitch notes they change outside operating hours – relevant because the park is closed for most of the Avalanche and Nuggets season. Ball Arena separately sells “Elitch's Lot” at $35 for games and says Elitch Gardens manages that lot independently.
| Option | Price | Walk/ride | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTD light rail, 3-hour pass | $2.75 ($5.50 day pass; 19 and under free) | Station at 1700 9th St, arena immediately southeast | No RTD parking at this station – park at an outlying Park-n-Ride |
| Auraria 7th Street Garage | $25 nights/weekends | Lawrence Way & 7th, across Auraria Pkwy | $8.50 rate is Mon–Thu before 5 p.m. only; can rise for special events |
| Auraria Tivoli Garage | $30 nights/weekends | 9th St & Auraria Pkwy | Pay immediately on parking; ParkMobile zone 3044 |
| Toyota 4Runner Lot | $35 Avs/Nuggets, $35–$40 concerts | On-site; 4Runner West holds the rideshare lot | Cashless; the main public lot, so it fills |
| Elitch's Lot | $35 Avs/Nuggets/Mammoth | North across the rail corridor via pedestrian bridge | Managed by Elitch Gardens, not the arena |
| Toyota Tundra Lot | $40 Avs/Nuggets ($45 top concert rate) | On-site, off Chopper Circle | Only cash-accepting lot – and card saves $5. Phase 1A site |
| Toyota RAV4 (Premier) | $70 Avs/Nuggets, $70–$75 concerts | Arena's closest spaces, off 11th St | Double the 4Runner for a short walk saved |
| TRD-Pro valet | $90–$95 concerts, $85 Mammoth | Circle drive at the East Atrium | Permit/UMB Reserve only for Avalanche and Nuggets games |
Yes, with real limits, and the arena's wording is unusually blunt: “Tailgating is allowed, but not encouraged outside Ball Arena.”
The rules that follow are the ones that matter. There are no designated tailgating areas in the Toyota lots, you may occupy only the number of spaces you paid for, and saving spaces is not allowed – the lots are monitored throughout events. Open consumption of alcohol is prohibited in all Toyota lots. Open fires using logs and charcoal grills are banned, and propane tanks must be under 20 lbs.
So: a small propane setup in your own space, no beer in the open, no reserving a block of spots for friends arriving later. This is a Denver arena lot, not a Buffalo stadium field.
Rideshare is tightly controlled here, and getting this wrong costs you twenty minutes. Pickup and drop-off for Uber, Lyft, taxis and limos happens at the Ball Arena Rideshare Lot at the 5th and Walnut Streets entrance, in the 4Runner West parking lot ONLY – the arena's own capitalisation.
Note an inconsistency between the venue's own two pages: the parking page says accessible rideshare pickup is also at the 4Runner West rideshare lot, while the public transportation page says ADA pickup is at the roundabout on 9th Street. If you are relying on accessible pickup, call Guest Relations on 303-405-8548 and confirm for your specific event rather than trusting either page.
On the drive out, the geography is the whole story: the arena sits in a wedge bounded by I-25, Speer Boulevard and Auraria Parkway, and everything funnels through a small number of bridges and ramps. Fans and local drivers commonly report twenty to thirty-five minutes to clear the on-site lots after a full house, with Speer, Auraria Parkway and the I-25 ramps as the choke points – and report that waiting fifteen minutes before walking to the car beats sitting in the queue. Treat those as fan-reported patterns, not published figures; the arena does not publish clearance times. The structural point is verifiable enough on its own: light rail and the Auraria garages put you outside the funnel instead of inside it.
We priced every option on this page against Ball Arena's own posted rates on the day of writing, then compared them with the guides currently ranking for this search. The gap is not small.
The pattern is that these pages were written once against old rates and never rechecked. When a page tells you Ball Arena parking is “$20 to $30,” it is describing a building that stopped charging those prices some time ago.
How much is parking at Ball Arena?
For Avalanche and Nuggets games the arena's posted drive-up rates are $35 in the 4Runner lot, $40 in the Tundra lot, $35 in Elitch's Lot and $70 in the RAV4 Premier lot. Concerts run $35–$40, $40–$45, $35–$40 and $70–$75, with valet at $90–$95. Prepaid online prices vary from these gate rates.
What time do Ball Arena parking lots open?
Three hours before the start of the event. Some guides say two hours; the arena says three.
Where do I buy Ball Arena parking in advance?
Two official channels: you are prompted to add parking after buying tickets on Ticketmaster, or you can buy through LAZ Parking at lazparking.com.
What is the cheapest way to get to Ball Arena?
RTD light rail. A 3-hour pass is $2.75 and a day pass is $5.50, riders 19 and under are free, and the Ball Arena / Elitch Gardens station sits immediately northwest of the arena. The cheapest driving option is the Auraria 7th Street Garage at $25 on nights and weekends.
Can you tailgate at Ball Arena?
Tailgating is allowed but not encouraged. There are no designated areas, you may use only the spaces you paid for, saving spaces is prohibited, open alcohol is banned in all Toyota lots, charcoal and log fires are prohibited, and propane tanks must be under 20 lbs.
Where is rideshare pickup at Ball Arena?
At the Ball Arena Rideshare Lot presented by Lyft, at the 5th and Walnut Streets entrance in the 4Runner West parking lot only. The arena's parking and transportation pages give conflicting locations for accessible pickup, so confirm with Guest Relations at 303-405-8548.
Is the Ball Arena parking lot closing for construction?
The first phase of the Ball Arena redevelopment is being built on the 3.7-acre parcel that is currently the Tundra lot, with groundbreaking set for May 2026. The arena still lists the Tundra lot for sale at $40 for games, but surface capacity around the arena is committed to redevelopment over roughly a 25-year buildout.
These Denver venue guides complete the topical silo around this page:
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