Out on the plains northeast of downtown, Denver International Airport (DEN) spreads across 53 sq. mi., roughly twice the area of Manhattan. For all that land, the part you’ll use boils down to one building and three long halls of gates. Once that picture clicks, finding your way gets much easier.
That building is the Jeppesen Terminal, named for Elrey Jeppesen, the pilot whose navigation charts ended up in cockpits worldwide. You’ll spot its white, tent-like roof from miles away on Peña Boulevard, shortly after passing a 32-foot blue mustang with blazing red eyes, known around town as Blucifer.
Everything on the landside happens under that roof: check-in, security, baggage claim, and ground transportation. The gates are farther out on the airfield, in three parallel concourses lettered A through C, and a train shuttles people between them and the terminal.
Departures start on the top floor, where vehicles pull up for drop-off, and the ticket counters line both sides. The door numbers help you get your bearings. Even-numbered doors line the west half of the terminal, and odd-numbered doors line the east half, so the nearest door tells you where you are.
Which counter you need depends on your airline:
Between the two sides, 86 automated bag-drop machines speed things up. Airline locations can shift during construction, so check DEN’s online directory before leaving home.
Construction note, updated September 2026: DEN has closed the south Level 6 terminal bridge and its connected escalator until mid-November 2026. For drop-off, use the side of the terminal that matches your airline.
Screening happens at the north end of Level 6, where the East and West Security Checkpoints face each other across the hall. Each has 17 lanes and runs daily from 3 a.m. to 1 a.m., though PreCheck and other expedited lanes have shorter hours. Each side has three entrances:
The new checkpoints use upgraded screening equipment, but follow the instructions given at your specific lane for electronics, liquids, shoes, jackets, and other items.
After screening, escalators and elevators take you down to the Train to the Gates platform on Level 4. The train is easy to figure out:
Getting there is quick, but gates at the far ends of a concourse may still mean a long walk.
The first stop has DEN’s widest mix of airlines:
A is also the one concourse you can walk to. A glass-enclosed bridge runs from the security checkpoints straight onto the concourse, with jets taxiing right underneath. Departing passengers cross after screening, and arriving passengers can cross the same bridge to head back to the terminal.
The middle stop makes DEN’s role as a United hub impossible to miss. United is the airport’s largest airline, and it fills most of Concourse B, spilling over onto A. Two full United Clubs sit by B32 and B44, and the smaller United Club Fly is near B60.
Southwest runs the last stop. It shares Concourse C with American, which currently checks in at the center of Level 5, and with two small regional carriers, Contour and Denver Air Connection.
On the way back, domestic arrivals take the train to the terminal and come up into the Great Hall on Level 5, right under the famous tent. The roof covers about 240,000 sq. ft. in two translucent layers of Teflon-coated fiberglass, held up by 34 masts and rising 126 feet at its highest point. Fentress Bradburn Architects drew those peaks to echo the snow-capped Rockies and the tipis that once dotted the Great Plains.
This floor is the building’s living room. It’s where you collect your bags, find family at the indoor meet-and-greet area, and choose from most of the ways out of DEN by road. A few landmarks help:
The Great Hall Program remains under construction, with overall completion anticipated by the end of 2027. Until then, expect a few temporary walls.
If someone is picking you up in their own car, they’ll meet you at the curb on Level 4, one floor below baggage claim. Cars can’t wait at the curb, so whoever is coming for you can park for free at the cell phone lot until you call. From the terminal, Peña Boulevard leads out to I-70, the start of the drive west to Aspen and the other ski towns.
The layout borrows heavily from Atlanta, where the Plane Train links a central terminal to parallel concourses in much the same way. Separating the concourses also gave DEN space to expand as passenger numbers increased.
That room matters. The terminal originally aimed to serve about 50 million people a year, and DEN welcomed a record 82.4 million in 2025, which made it the fourth-busiest airport in the country. For a lot of these passengers, landing at DEN is just the start. Skiers headed to Aspen, for instance, still have to choose between a short flight, the Bustang bus, or the long mountain drive.
Across all 53 square miles of DEN, the passenger route is straightforward: terminal, security, train, concourse.
