Denver Airport Smoking Area

Where the Denver Airport Smoking Areas Are

The Denver airport smoking areas are outside Jeppesen Terminal on the pre-security side, at the spots listed on DIA's smoking areas page:

• West side of the terminal: Level 4 at Doors 400 and 416, and Level 5 at Doors 500 and 516.
• East side of the terminal: Level 4 at Doors 401 and 417, Level 5 at Door 517, and Level 6 at Door 601.
• DEN Plaza: outside the south center doors, to the far right or left before the plaza entrance.

None of them is past security, and DIA tells travelers to leave time to get back through the checkpoint if they walk out from the gates to smoke. The airport's conduct rules also ban smoking within 25 feet of any building entrance and within 100 feet of aircraft or fueling, so use a marked area instead of the nearest doorway.

Does Denver Airport Have a Smoking Room?

Denver airport has no smoking room today: its last indoor lounge, the Smokin' Bear Lodge in the middle of Concourse C, closed when its lease ended, and the airport declared itself smoke-free on March 1, 2018, with plans to turn the space into a restaurant. Three other indoor lounges had closed in 2012, according to DIA: two Aviator's Lounge rooms, one in the terminal and one on Concourse B, and a lounge inside a restaurant on Concourse A.

So if an old forum thread sends you looking for a smoking room in Concourse C, it's gone. State law changed too. HB19-1076, the 2019 law that brought vaping under Colorado's Clean Indoor Air Act, also ended the act's exception for airport smoking concessions on July 1, 2019.

Can You Smoke at Denver Airport?

You can smoke at Denver airport only in the outdoor areas before security, and the same goes for vapes. DIA's rule book defines smoking to include using an e-cigarette or any similar device that lets you inhale a vapor, mist or aerosol, with or without nicotine. When it went smoke-free in 2018, the airport said smoking outside designated areas, e-cigarettes included, is prohibited on airport property.

Indoors, a mayor's executive order bans smoking in every public space at the airport, bars and restaurants included. Colorado's Clean Indoor Air Act, passed in 2006, also lists airports among the indoor places where smoking is banned, and since 2019 its definition of smoking has covered vapes. Breaking the state law is a petty offense punishable by a fine of up to $300, up to 10 days in jail, or both, according to a brief from the legislature's nonpartisan staff.

Can You Vape in the Airport?

You can't vape in the airport anywhere indoors at Denver, and most of the country's busiest airports ban it indoors too. As of July 1, 2026, 32 of the 35 busiest US airports were completely smoke-free indoors, and 23 of the 35 banned vaping indoors, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.

The three exceptions on that list are Las Vegas, which allows smoking in two lounges and in enclosed slot machine rooms by the B, C, D and E gates, Nashville, with a smoking lounge in Concourse B, and Miami, which allows it in an open-air atrium attached to a restaurant. Federal law bans vaping on the plane itself, but inside a terminal, state law, local law and the airport's own rules decide. In Colorado, the Clean Indoor Air Act covers every airport in the state, so vaping is banned indoors at Colorado Springs or Grand Junction just as it is at Denver.

TSA Vape Rules

TSA vape rules let you take a vape through security at DIA in a carry-on bag or your pocket, but never in a checked bag. The short version, from TSA and the FAA's PackSafe guidance:

• Vapes ride in the cabin only, with steps taken so they can't switch on by accident, and airlines can limit how many each passenger brings.
• Batteries, if lithium-ion, are capped at 100 watt-hours each. Spares stay in the cabin too, each in its original package, its own plastic bag, or with tape over the terminals, under 49 CFR 175.10.
• E-liquid in a carry-on is limited to 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) per bottle, in your quart-size liquids bag.
• On board, you can't vape or charge a vape, and the FAA calls vaping on a plane a federal offense.
• Gate-checked bags count as checked bags, so take the vape and spare batteries out first.

The FAA says vapes and e-cigarettes were the leading cause of lithium battery incidents on aircraft in 2022. Our guide to bringing a vape on a plane has the full rules, THC vapes included.

Vape Shops Near Denver Airport

Vape shops near Denver airport, measured in a straight line from the terminal, start with Green Valley Vape & Pipe in Denver, 7.0 miles away. These are the six closest in our Colorado listings, with the hours each one lists; check before you drive, since hours change.

• Green Valley Vape & Pipe, 4650 Tower Rd Unit 107, Denver: 7.0 miles. Every day 8 AM to 10 PM.
• Mr tobacco&vape, 3751 Tower Rd Unit D, Aurora: 7.7 miles. Mon to Thu 8 AM to 11 PM, Fri and Sat 8 AM to 12 AM, Sun 9 AM to 11 PM.
• Area 51 Smoke & Vape Shop, 3450 Tower Rd Ste C100, Aurora: 7.9 miles. Mon to Wed 8 AM to 11 PM, Thu to Sat 8 AM to 12 AM, Sun 8 AM to 11 PM.
• CO Vape & Toke, 4894 Chambers Rd, Denver: 8.4 miles. Every day 9 AM to 9 PM.
• Smoker Friendly, 15037 E Colfax Ave, Aurora: 10.6 miles. Mon to Fri 8 AM to 8 PM, Sat 9 AM to 8 PM, Sun 10 AM to 6 PM.
• 420 Smoke Shop Co, 3202 Peoria St, Aurora: 10.9 miles. Mon to Sat 8 AM to 11 PM, Sun 9 AM to 10 PM.

Denver Airport Smoking FAQ

This Denver airport smoking FAQ answers the questions travelers ask most.