APRIL 2008 Upper Cherry Creek Trail

Everyone knows the Cherry Creek Trail, it goes right through the heart of Denver. Today We're going to explore Upper Cherry Creek, above the Cherry Creek Dam & Reservoir.

It is possible to ride the Cherry Creek Trail all the way from Franktown to the Platte River confluence, indeed plans are to connect trails all the way from Castlewood Canyon State Park to Denver but that's a long ride.

Today we'll explore the trail from State Highway 470 to the Dam.

OK, so to reach the upper end of the trail I took the RTD Lightrail H Line to the County Line Station, next to Park Meadows Mall.

You can take your bike on the lightrail but you need to board at the end of the car. The places you can get on with a bike is marked on the platform. You need to stand with your bike so it doesn't move around. Here's an example:...


















When the train gets to the County Line stop you exit through a covered bridge over I-25. Head out of the parking lot and turn right (South) on the frontage road.

About a mile later you go under E-470 and then you'll find the trail.



















that's the trail, next to the onramp to Colorado E-470, a toll road. The bike path is free though.

The Colorado 470 path is probably my least favorite trail. It follows the 470 loop around Denver and because of that you are almost always within earshot of the highway.

I like my rides quiet. Still and all, I use the 470 trail sometimes to get to other trails. When I lived in Lonetree I used to ride 470> Highline Canal> Lee Gulch> Platte to get to Denver.

Plus the fact that there's a lot of hills makes it the best trail for training.

Personally I like riding along rivers, creeks & canals because I like an easy ride. Who ever said exercise had to be hard? I like to stop and smell the flowers.















A typical stretch of the 470 trail.




The 470 trail wasn't in the best shape, it had snowed 8-10" two nights before. The Sun melted most of it. They're supposed to plow the paths too but they didn't do a great job on this portion:



















You can see the toll booths on the highway on the left. On the bike path you can see a substandard plow job.

Follow the 470 trail for about 5 miles.








Then you hit the Cherry Creek Regional Trail.
Here's the junction looking East. To the right towards Franktown, left to Denver. Cherry Creek flows on the other side of that line of trees.





Then you go under three E-470 bridges.



















I haven't ridden the upper Cherry Creek since 2001 so I was excited to

see what the trail had to offer.

The trail passes some wetlands...



















And Cottonwood Park










Looks like they're going to re-seed this area.















Cherry Creek was kinda muddy.









The trail through this area is nice. There's been a lot of construction along this part of the trail. New subdivisions abound. I was surprised the trail wasn't complete yet.




















There used to be a spot where you had to open a gate to get in and again when you left. Sometimes there were horses in the field. Now there's town homes. That's progress but it hasn't diminished the overall beauty of the Cherry Creek.

There's a new section of trail starting with these three bridges. Back in 2001 I had to jump from the bank to rocks and back up on the bank to cross and then take a dirt road on the left out to the current subdivision which back then was paved roads and homes under construction.





















So this sign marks the "new" section.

It's new to me but of course to the folks who are more familiar with upper Cherry Creek it's old, built since 2001, anyway.

The trail goes maybe a mile then you have to exit into a subdivision and go right once you hit the street to Jordan Road.

Once you turn right on Jordan Road you go straight on past Arapahoe until you see this sign:

The ride on Jordan is @ 2.4 miles

You'll see this entrance to Cherry Creek State Park on the left:

there are concrete paths or single track options.

There are a lot of trails throughout Cherry Creek State Park. I had tried to go around the East side of the reservoir the other day but I got bogged down by construction zones and mud.

This day I rode around the West side and there were no problems.

Eventually you want to go over the dam and down Lower Cherry Creek.

"You are here"

You can see the dam in the distance.

Then you get to the other side. This picture features the Millennium trail. The road is the dam road, the trail is now on the other side of the dam.




























The trail skirts the dam next to the highway. Notice the RTD lightrail train in the middle. That's the 9 mile train in the distance. You can take it to Cherry Creek State Park.



























































































Then you reach the outlet in the dam, Cherry Creek begins again.






Now You're on Lower Cherry Creek!