By the time your group merges onto I-25 north out of Castle Rock on a Sunday afternoon, half of Douglas County is already headed for the same stadium. Lot C at Empower Field at Mile High opens six hours before kickoff and routinely sells out within the first thirty to sixty minutes, so anyone counting on pulling in, tailgating, and strolling to the gate is already behind schedule before they've even left Castle Rock. The question that actually decides your day isn't whether a parking space exists — it's where a vehicle carrying your whole group can drop off, and where it waits while you're inside.
A charter bus or party bus drops your group at the rideshare-and-hired-vehicle corner near Gate 5 on Mile High Stadium Circle, then stages nearby until you're ready to head back down I-25. Below is exactly how that works, pulled from the stadium's own published parking and directions pages, plus the vehicle sizes, the pricing shape, and the game-by-game calendar you need to plan the trip.
Why Rent a Bus to Empower Field at Mile High?
Getting twenty or forty people to a Broncos game usually means someone volunteers to skip the tailgate and stay sober, someone else circles Sun Valley hunting for a space that isn't $55, and the group still splits into three or four cars before kickoff anyway. Castlerockminibuscompany.com compares vehicle sizes and prices from a large network of bus companies serving Castle Rock and the greater Denver area, so the whole search takes one form or one call to 720-991-1030 instead of ten phone calls to ten different companies. Your Castle Rock sporting event transportation becomes one decision, not a logistics project.
A charter bus or party bus to Empower Field changes the shape of game day. Your group rides up I-25 together, the excitement builds on the way instead of in a parking line, and the vehicle drops near the gates instead of at a lot on the far side of the stadium grounds. Nobody has to skip the tailgate to get the group home afterward, because one vehicle handles the whole trip.
Charter Bus & Party Bus Drop-Off at Empower Field at Mile High
The stadium's own gameday parking and directions page names one clear drop zone for rideshare and hired vehicles: the northeast corner near Gate 5 on Mile High Stadium Circle. That's the curb a charter bus or party bus uses to drop your group, and it puts you at the gates instead of a lot on the opposite side of the property.
Pickup after the game moves. The stadium's published rideshare pickup point is 5th and Walnut Street at the Ball Arena Rideshare Lot — roughly a fifteen-minute walk east of the stadium, made by the entire crowd at once, after a loss, in the cold. That fifteen-minute walk is exactly why a reserved vehicle is worth having: because it's chartered for a block of hours rather than flagged down curbside, it can hold near the Gate 5 corner or stage close by, ready to be called back to the same spot your group started from — not sent hiking toward Walnut Street with everyone who used a rideshare app that night.
Bus Parking at Empower Field at Mile High: Lots, Prices & the Gap in the Published Map
The stadium prices five on-site lots for Broncos games, and every one of them is credit-card only on a cashless site. Lot C is the early-tailgating lot, open six hours before kickoff at $55 a space, and it's the first to fill — often within thirty to sixty minutes of opening. Lot A is the carpool section at $45 a space, but only for vehicles carrying four or more people, and tailgating isn't allowed there at all.
The rest of the general lots open 4.5 hours before kickoff, and the stadium's page is blunt that pre-purchased permits are typically gone well before game day, leaving day-of buyers a credit-card line at the entrance.
What that page doesn't publish is a dedicated bus or motorcoach lot the way it spells out Lots C, A, D, G, and L for cars. Worth knowing before your group shows up expecting a marked bus corral: the exact space assigned to an oversized vehicle on a given date isn't posted online, so it's worth a call to the stadium's guest services line at 720.258.3000 to confirm current oversized-vehicle parking before you finalize your itinerary.
Accessible Parking & the Ramp Gates
Guests with a valid state-issued ADA placard or plate have three lots to pick from: Lot L at $35, or the ADA sections of Lots D and G at $40, all first-come and credit-card only per the stadium's ADA guide. Those lots sell out fast too — the guide notes they typically clear within the first two hours of opening. Wheelchair users headed for the upper deck should note the seating-specific ramps: sections 229–236 route through Gates 9 and 10, while sections 316–330 use Gates 4 and 5.
A shuttle cart also runs from three hours before kickoff to about an hour after, though it pauses during the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and roughly fifteen minutes afterward. If anyone in your group needs that accommodation, build it into your pickup window.
Rideshare, Light Rail & Transit at Empower Field: Why a Group Skips Them
RTD's W Line stops at both Empower Field at Mile High Station and Decatur-Federal Station, and a single ride runs $2.75 for a three-hour pass, per RTD's fare page. That's a fine option for two or three riders coming from a station already on the line. It's a much harder plan for a group of twenty coming from Castle Rock, which isn't on the rail network at all — the group would still need to drive to a park-and-ride first, split across train cars, then regroup on a crowded platform afterward.
Rideshare has the same coordination problem, plus the walk. Drop-off is the Gate 5 corner; pickup is 5th and Walnut, about fifteen minutes away on foot, and that's before post-game surge pricing lands on top of it. A charter bus collapses all of that into one vehicle, one price, and one meeting spot — no fifteen-minute walk in the dark, no five separate rideshare apps trying to find each other in a parking garage afterward.
| Option | Cost shape | Group stays together? | Distance to the gates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charter bus or party bus | One rate, divided across the group | Yes — one vehicle, one arrival | Steps from Gate 5 |
| RTD W Line light rail | $2.75 per rider, each way | Only if the whole group boards together | Short walk from the station platform |
| Rideshare | Per car, plus post-game surge pricing | No — multiple cars, multiple arrivals | Drop at Gate 5, pickup a 15-minute walk away |
| Drive and park | $35–$55 per space, if a lot isn't already sold out | No — separate cars, separate lots | Varies by lot assignment |
What Size Charter Bus or Party Bus Fits Your Empower Field at Mile High Group?
Castlerockminibuscompany.com compares vehicle sizes from a large network of bus companies, so a group of eight isn't paying for a 56-seat coach and a group of forty isn't crammed into a van. Here's how the sizes typically break down for a Broncos game or a stadium concert.
| Vehicle | Typical seats | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sprinter van | Up to ~14 | Suite groups, small groups from Castle Rock | Climate control, privacy windows |
| 18–25 passenger minibus | 18–25 | Mid-size tailgate groups | Overhead storage, reclining seats |
| 28–35 passenger minibus | 28–35 | Larger family or coworker groups | Plush seating, air conditioning |
| Party bus | 15–50 | Groups wanting the pregame energy on the ride up | Lounge seating, color-changing LED lighting, sound system |
| 40–56 passenger charter bus | Up to 56 | Large fan groups, corporate outings | Undercarriage bays, onboard restroom |
A 20- to 35-passenger minibus is the common pick for a group of coworkers or a big extended family headed up from Castle Rock — it clears I-25 easily and gives everyone in a Castle Rock 20-passenger minibus or a 35-passenger minibus room to stretch out for the drive. A Castle Rock party bus rental is the pick for a group that wants that energy building on the ride instead of in the Lot C line. For a large fan club, a suite group, or a company outing, a Castle Rock charter bus rental seating up to 56 brings undercarriage bays for tailgate gear and coolers, plus an onboard restroom for the ride home.
A smaller group can also compare a Castle Rock Sprinter Van Rental with transportation provider, and the full vehicle lineup lays out every option side by side.
Empower Field at Mile High Bus Rental Prices
Pricing depends on vehicle size, how many hours you need it (including tailgate time and the post-game wait), the date, and how far the pickup sits from Denver. To give you an idea, a 20- to 25-passenger minibus running a Castle Rock group up I-25, through a full tailgate, and back again on an 8-hour Sunday rental often lands somewhere around $900 to $1,400, while a 40- to 56-passenger charter bus for the same window runs higher — but split across a full group, that's frequently less per person than a parking space plus a rideshare fare each way for every car. These are example figures meant to help you plan, not a quote; the number moves with your date, hours, and vehicle.
Fill out the quick form or call 720-991-1030 and you can have pricing for your date in about a minute. See Castle Rock bus rental prices for more on how the numbers break down.
A Game-Day Example
To give you an idea: a 22-person group books a 25-passenger minibus for a 1:00 PM Sunday kickoff. Pickup is 9:30 AM in Castle Rock, arrival at the Gate 5 drop by 11:00 AM — two hours before kickoff, enough time to find the group's Lot A space before directed parking kicks in. The overhead and rear storage hold coolers and folding chairs while the group tailgates and heads inside.
Pickup is arranged for roughly 45 minutes after the final whistle, once the Gate 5 corner reopens to hired vehicles. A rental shaped like that often runs somewhere near $1,100 for the day — about $50 a person, with the drive up I-25, the parking search, and the walk to 5th and Walnut all handled instead of left to the group.
Getting to Empower Field at Mile High from Castle Rock and the South Metro
Castle Rock sits about 30 miles south of the stadium on I-25, a drive that normally runs 35 to 45 minutes and stretches well past that once Broncos traffic funnels toward the Mile High Stadium Circle exits. Groups coming up from Castle Rock, Parker, or Lone Tree share the same bottleneck — I-25 narrows as it enters downtown Denver, and the exits nearest the stadium back up fast in the hour before kickoff.
That drive is exactly the kind of thing a bus is built to absorb. Instead of a caravan of separate cars splitting apart somewhere around downtown, one vehicle carries the whole group up I-25, drops at Gate 5, and heads back south on the same road after the game while everyone else is still working their way out of the lots. A Castle Rock group transportation booking covers the whole loop, door to door, for one price.
Denver International Airport to Empower Field at Mile High
If part of your group is flying in for the game, Denver International Airport (DEN) sits about 25 miles northeast of the stadium, typically a 30- to 40-minute drive depending on the hour. One vehicle can gather the whole group at baggage claim instead of splitting everyone across separate rideshares fighting DEN's terminal curb, then run straight down Peña Boulevard and I-70 toward the stadium or a hotel.
Booking a single DEN pickup also means the group isn't juggling five separate flight-tracking apps. Castle Rock airport transportation can be arranged as one leg of the same trip, so the vehicle that meets your flight is the same one that drops you at Gate 5 that afternoon.
Tailgating Rules for a Charter Bus or Party Bus Group at Empower Field
Per the stadium's directions and parking page, tailgating is permitted, but the rule is specific: "Tailgating must not occupy another parking spot(s) and must not block the drive lanes or walkways." One permit buys one space, and that space is for a vehicle sitting in it — not a place to hold open for a bus that's dropping the group off and moving on.
That actually works in a bus group's favor. A charter bus doesn't need its own tailgate space at all — it drops your group with the coolers and folding chairs, the group tailgates on foot around one car, and the bus doesn't tie up a $55 space for six hours doing nothing. Lot A, the carpool section, bans tailgating outright, which is worth knowing if part of your group assumed they'd be setting up there.
Leaving Empower Field at Mile High After the Game
Getting more than 76,000 fans out of Sun Valley at once is the part nobody plans for. The general lots don't clear in ten minutes, I-25 backs up in both directions, and rideshare pricing spikes right as the crowd hits 5th and Walnut Street all at the same time. Fans who drove sit in the same lot-exit lines as everyone else; fans who used a rideshare app face the fifteen-minute walk to Walnut Street and then the wait for a car that costs more than it did that morning.
With a bus, none of that lands on your group in real time. You set a pickup window before the game, the vehicle stages nearby, and it's back at the Gate 5 corner as soon as that zone reopens to hired vehicles — no walk to Walnut Street, no surge fare, no splitting up to track down whoever drove. The group climbs aboard, and I-25 south toward Castle Rock becomes someone else's traffic to sit in.
Tips for Visiting Empower Field at Mile High
- Bags stay small and clear. Per the stadium's visitor guidelines, each guest may carry one clear bag no larger than 12" x 6" x 12", or a one-gallon clear freezer bag. Backpacks and non-clear bags aren't allowed inside.
- Bring a card, not cash. Empower Field is a cashless facility for parking, concessions, and merchandise — a card or phone wallet is the only way to pay anywhere on site.
- Save the stadium's number. Empower Field at Mile High sits at 1701 Bryant Street, Denver, CO 80204; the main line is 720.258.3000 if anyone in your group needs guest services.
- Arrive with real time to spare. Lot C alone can be gone within thirty to sixty minutes of opening, and general lots open 4.5 hours before kickoff and often sell out within two.
- Dress for a Denver afternoon. Empower Field is open-air at 5,280 feet, and the temperature at kickoff can be twenty degrees off from what it was at the tailgate.
What's on the Calendar at Empower Field at Mile High
The Denver Broncos' 2026 schedule lists eight home dates plus two preseason games, and each one reshapes I-25 differently depending on kickoff time. Confirmed home dates include the Friday, August 21 preseason game against the Green Bay Packers and the Friday, August 28 preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings, followed by the regular-season home opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, September 20, a Sunday-night game against the Los Angeles Rams on September 27, a Thursday-night matchup with the Seattle Seahawks on October 15, and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, November 1. Later home dates include the Las Vegas Raiders on November 22, the Miami Dolphins on December 6, and a Christmas Day game against the Buffalo Bills on Friday, December 25 at 2:30 PM.
Night games and division rivals — especially the Chiefs and Raiders dates — are the ones where Lot C disappears fastest and the Gate 5 corner gets busiest before kickoff. Empower Field also hosts concerts on the same footprint; Zach Bryan's "With Heaven On Tour" plays the stadium August 13–14, 2026, per the stadium's events calendar, and the same parking and drop-off pattern generally applies on concert nights. Whatever the date, the lots and the pickup corner fill on the same tight clock, so locking in a vehicle as soon as your date is set keeps your group from scrambling the week of the game.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does a charter bus or party bus drop off at Empower Field at Mile High?
The stadium's published drop zone for hired vehicles is the northeast corner near Gate 5 on Mile High Stadium Circle, per the gameday parking page. That's the same curb used for rideshare, and it puts your group at the gates instead of a distant lot.
Where does the bus park during the game?
The stadium prices five lots for cars — Lots C, A, D, G, and L — but doesn't publish a separate bus or motorcoach lot the way it spells out those. The staging spot for an oversized vehicle isn't posted online, so it's worth confirming with the stadium's guest services line for your specific date.
How much does parking cost at Empower Field at Mile High?
Lot C, the early-tailgating lot, runs $55 a space and opens six hours before kickoff. Lot A, the carpool section, is $45 and requires four or more people per vehicle, with no tailgating allowed. General lots open 4.5 hours before kickoff, and the stadium says pre-purchased permits are typically sold out ahead of game day.
ADA lots run $35 (Lot L) to $40 (Lots D and G).
Is Empower Field at Mile High a cashless facility?
Yes. Every parking lot and every concession stand takes credit or debit only — there's no cash option anywhere on site.
What's the bag policy at Empower Field at Mile High?
One clear bag no larger than 12" x 6" x 12", or a one-gallon clear freezer bag, per guest. Backpacks and other non-clear bags aren't permitted inside.
Can our group tailgate if we're arriving by bus?
Yes. Tailgating is allowed around a parked vehicle, but the rule is specific: it can't spill into another space or block a drive lane or walkway. A bus group typically tailgates on foot around one car rather than needing the bus itself to hold a $55 space for six hours.
Is there a train or light rail to Empower Field at Mile High?
RTD's W Line stops at Empower Field at Mile High Station and Decatur-Federal Station, and a single ride is $2.75. It works for a couple of riders coming from a station already on the line, but Castle Rock isn't on the rail network, so a group would still need to drive to a park-and-ride first.
How far is Empower Field at Mile High from Castle Rock?
About 30 miles north on I-25, usually a 35- to 45-minute drive outside of game-day traffic. That window stretches considerably in the hour before a Sunday kickoff, when the stadium-area exits back up.
What's the closest airport to Empower Field at Mile High?
Denver International Airport (DEN), about 25 miles northeast, typically a 30- to 40-minute drive. One vehicle can meet a group at baggage claim and run straight to the stadium or a hotel.
Where does pickup happen after the game?
The stadium's published rideshare pickup point is 5th and Walnut Street at the Ball Arena Rideshare Lot, about a fifteen-minute walk from the gates. A vehicle reserved for your group can hold near the Gate 5 drop zone instead, so your group isn't making that walk with the rest of the crowd.
Are accessible parking and drop-off available?
Yes. ADA parking is available in Lot L ($35) and the ADA sections of Lots D and G ($40), first-come and credit-card only, per the stadium's ADA guide. Wheelchair users in sections 229–236 use the Gate 9/10 ramps, and sections 316–330 use the Gate 4/5 ramps; a shuttle cart also runs from three hours before kickoff to about an hour after.
How far in advance should we book a bus for a Broncos game?
As soon as your date is set, especially for night games and division matchups against the Chiefs or Raiders, when both parking and vehicle availability tighten fastest. For most other dates, two to three weeks of lead time is workable.
Book Your Empower Field at Mile High Bus Rental Today
Also planning a trip to Coors Field or a show at Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre? Those guides cover their own drop-offs and parking.
Whether it's a Broncos Sunday, a Thursday-night game, or a summer concert, Castlerockminibuscompany.com makes comparing a charter bus, party bus, or minibus for the trip up I-25 quick and straightforward. Fill out the online form or call 720-991-1030 any time, compare vehicles and prices from a large network of bus companies serving Castle Rock and the greater Denver area, and get your group to Gate 5 without the parking search.
