A dizzying trail hunt for Denver's top Barbecue joints.

Five years ago I went hog wild and cattle crazy, prowling the plains and prairies of Colorado for the state's best barbecue. It was a journey that took me all the way from the high altitude of Durango to the flatlands of Strasburg in search of sauces and spice rubs, meaty ribs and slow-cooked pork, Kansas City and the Carolinas, vinegar and molasses, cultural lexicons and sacred secrets. My educational, waist-expanding romp was a testament to the fact that while barbecue is as American as Elvis Presley, wagon wheels, paper plates and flip flops, the pride and patriotism that swells in the souls of the self-proclaimed barbecue-kings who smoke, slice and sauce your meat, is more passionate than locking lips with your first flame.

Embarking, yet again, on another barbecue quest "” this time closer to my own backyard smoker "” I visited some familiar homely haunts with flimsy screen doors and a deep affinity for tradition, modern new joints trying to outgun their legendary counterparts (with little success) and everyplace in between. And while Denver and its outlying suburbs aren't on anyone's short list of the country's top BBQ capitals (for those, you'll need to hit up the heart of Texas, the Carolinas, Kansas City and Memphis, Tennessee, y'all), there are plenty of local pits wafting with smoke and fire that have hit their strides. The following five barbecue hook-ups are worthy of wearing your dinner on your face.

Cabin Creek Smokehouse
It's so unbelievably busy that you can't fathom why on earth the owners don't expand, the seats number fewer than a half dozen, which means you'll need to aggressively stake out your stool. It's in Aspen Park (Conifer), so you may as well forget about whatever plans you have for the day, because it will take that long and then some just to get here and back. Is it worth the pilgrimage? Indeed. The kitchen turns out terrific Texas brisket, stupefyingly good Southern-style pulled pork, spicy Polish sausage links the size of baseball bats and finger-slicking ribs that will linger in your collective culinary memory until you've been branded for your addiction.
25997 Conifer Rd., Conifer; 303.838.0375
cabin-creek-smokehouse-barbeque.com

The Rib House
Well before Prospect New Town, Longmont's kitschy hub of highfalutin' home-dwellers, became, well, prosperous and pumped up with a constellation of cool boutiques, bars and restaurants, people were hot on the barbecue trail of this down-home Kansas City-styled joint where you can relax on the umbrella-shaded patio and pig out on hedonistically good hickory-smoked meats. The baby back ribs, smoked for 24 hours and rubbed with an onslaught of paprika, garlic, sugar and other seasonings, steal the show, although the pink-flushed shreds of pulled pork, cheesy corn bake and delicious carrot cake are all indicative of a joint that takes pride in its pickings.
1920 S. Coffman St., Longmont; 303.485.6988
theribhouse.info

Brickyard BBQ
Huddled squarely in the middle of Highland and Berkeley Park, a gentrified neighborhood swelling with watering holes, ethnic joints and white-tablecloth dining dens, Brickyard BBQ stands out, not just for its unabashedly Americana red-and-white checkered tables and racy red wall scribed with accolades from devoted regulars, but for the indelible Kansas city-influenced BBQ, most notably the irresistible burnt ends, crusty-edged pork wet-mopped in a simultaneously sweet and spicy sauce that requires a bib if you're prone to drooling. The pit-masters also turn out excellent brisket, tender as a whisper, sausage links and chicken, and where else can you wash down your barbecue with cherry Kool-Aid?
4243 W. 38th Ave.; 303.561.4875
imarksweb.net/brickyardbbq

Jabo's Bar-Be-Q
When you're in the mood to fire up the smokestack, head to this unassuming spot in a Greenwood Village small mall for Jabo Lawson's take on Texas barbecue. Lawson, who originally smoked his meats in a parking lot before the crowds begged and pleaded with him to move his operation inside, is also a master of superb sauces, of which there are infinite possibilities, including sauces spiked with fruit, habanero peppers and whatever else might be rolling around in Lawson's head. All of the meats "” big bites of brisket, jolting Polish sausage, tender pork shoulder and pork ribs "” are smoked entirely with wood and pair perfectly with the sweet potato fries. For a sustaining sugar high, don't ignore the pudgy scones swiped with soft butter scented with honey.
9682 E. Arapahoe Rd., Greenwood Village; 303.799.4432

Yazoo Barbecue Company
Don Hines, a one-man smoker, stoker and rib tickler who hails from the Deep South, doesn't mess with down-home tradition. Born and bred in Mississippi, the serious pit chief, whose Web site warns "all Yazoo meat items can fend for themselves in taste, but we will let you add different BBQ sauces," would clearly prefer that you dirty up your face on his dry-rubbed pork ribs and sausage links sans sauce, which is just fine and "Yankee Doodle Dandy," considering the meats are gloriously good without a drop of smear or slather. Hines uses a duo of pecan and hickory woods to delicately smoke his meats, the results of which deliver on the promise of great barbecue served in a low-rent, community-friendly shack.
2150 Broadway; 303.296.3334 & 9555 E. Arapahoe Rd.; 303.792.9500
yazoobbq.com