Chatfield Lake Circle Route February 2009

I rode around Chatfield Lake the other day. It's February but the weather has been warm.

To get to Chatfield State Park I took the light rail to the Mineral Station.
Then I rode South along the Platte river.
It's a great trail with nice rest stops along the way.
Here's a shot of the Platte with C-470 in the background.




Here's the bicycle bridge over the Platte.






There's an off leash area for dogs in Chatfield State Park. Also a sign warning about Coyotes. I see Coyotes all the time on my rides. I've never been bothered. My main complaint is I'm usually too slow with my camera to catch a picture. I saw a Coyote at the South end of Chatfield Lake on this ride, I got two nothing pictures.
Here's the dam, gotta go over that before you get to the lake.




All the cars coming towards me are headed to the dog park. See one hanging out the window?

That's the Platte River emerging from the base of the dam. There's also a run off area in case the dam tops over.

All the dams around Denver are strictly flood control. Bear Creek, Cherry Creek and the South Platte River have all flooded in the past and done great damage. Not so much anymore.
Here's the overflow channel. Seldom if ever required.








Here's a shot from the top of the dam looking West.






There are picnic tables for folks to eat at while they look over the lake.

Parts of the lake are still frozen.














Chatfield is a big lake now and it will swell with the spring runoff.



Now we get to ride down the other side of the dam. Wheee! There's a dedicated bike path but in Winter the park is almost deserted so I rode the roads.




No one at the swim beach in February.




Here's a look back at the dam. If the reservoir was filled up all the way the place I was standing would be 60 feet under water. So the dam was built for a 100 year storm.





If you go to the West end of the swim beach parking lot you'll find the old bike path that goes around the lake.



There's a much nicer path farther from the waterline but I like rustic trails and single track.




And yes the asphalt trail quickly degrades to dirt single track.




And that trail eventually goes into the lake. Note the trees ahead grow on either side of the trail as it continues underwater.



So you ride a little farther from the water on the single track.



Chatfield is a great park. There are picnic areas all around the lake. There's a camping area farther along too.



There are some group picnic areas.
I took a break. Note the tie dye socks.






Here's another picnic area with horse shoe pits in the foreground.


The sign says it was reserved today. It wasn't.



Eventually the single track merged with the "good" bike path.




Here the modern trail intersects with an older decomposing trail.




This is where I saw the Coyote. I was too slow on the draw with my camera.


I took this from the bridge over the Platte as it enters the reservoir.




I saw a murder of crows.





On the other side of the lake I found more single track.



It cruises along for a while near the shore.

Then I found this relic. I'd say this sign is from the late 60's to mid 70's just based on the styling. The Herons relocated when the reservoir flooded out their original habitat. This sign warns about a place the Herons no longer inhabit.The dam was built in 1967 so there you go. Ain't Google great?



I'd say not a lot of people ride the primitive trails around here. Pity because it's quite nice really.

Eventually the single track got too close to the lake and I didn't feel like getting muddy so I turned around & went back to the "modern" trail.



At an overlook you can use telescopes to spot birds including the afore mentioned Herons. Bring quarters because the telescopes aren't free.
A few years ago I was here in Winter and came upon a herd of Deer grazing in the grass. Approaching swiftly on a bike they didn't smell or hear me until I was about here (the structure wasn't there at that time). Those deer hopped like bunny rabbits to escape when they saw me. I didn't see them until then so I was just as startled. I'm glad they fled instead of charged.



There's another overlook ahead on the left.




Here's a good interpretive sign. The last major flood on the Platte was 1965, prompting Chatfield dam to be built in 1967.




Near the outlook there is another group picnic area, the Henrony which accommodates 350 people. By reservation.




There's the number.



Continuing on I passed the camping area and came to the model airplane airport.






So I checked it out.




Welcome to the Chatfield Aerodrome.



Elevation 5450'



The first plane I saw was one that had just crashed. Semper Fudge!



There were some really cool planes flying that day.




That's a P-51 Mustang. I know my WWII planes.









There's a bi-plane waiting to take off. The runway was in use the entire time I was there.









One guy was flying jet planes.

Yes jets.
I hung around until I saw both jets fly. It was pretty cool. Fast and maneuverable, they did things prop planes can't do.
I didn't attempt any pictures of planes in the air but here's one of the jets ready for takeoff on runway one. The wheels retract after takeoff.




There's the jet ready for takeoff from a different perspective.




OK, so we're leaving the Aerodrome and heading towards the exit on the other side of the dam from where we entered. No more bike path but the road is uncrowded.





See the You Are Here Arrow? We're almost back to the dam on the other side of the lake. We started in the upper right hand corner on this map.

Unfortunately you can't ride over the dam so you follow the Highline Canal Trail to get back to the starting point.





Here's the sign welcoming you. I took this picture on the way out.





Good Ol' Highline Canal.




Bike next to tree next to dry canal.







Trees are cool.
The Highline Canal Trail passes Titan Parkway. I turned left and headed for Santa Fe Drive going North.


After a quarter mile I saw a path back to the Highline Canal Trail over some railroad tracks.




These rail road tracks.






Another vintage sign.





And then back on the High Line Canal Trail.






Now we're riding the High Line Canal Trail. If you look past the Denver & Rio Grande railroad tracks you can see the dam. You can see the white towers near the dam between the two closest telephone poles. We've almost come full circle.


Pretty soon the High Line Canal crosses under Santa Fe again. You can follow it all the way to the C-470 Trail but it was getting late & I wanted to get home so I rode North on Santa Fe about a half mile to reach the C-470 trail.



Here we are at Santa Fe & C-470. Take the trail West. In less than a mile you'll hit the Platte River Trail again.


There's the bike bridge we took earlier. Once you're over that take the Platte River Trail back to Mineral Avenue to catch the light rail home.


Cruising the Platte Trail. It has signs and dividing lines unlike the New Speedway.




There's the parking lot at Mineral for the light rail. The ride was about 20 miles not counting single track side trips that dead ended. The High Line Canal portion was just over 10 miles and it's soft dirt, not the most fun to ride.
Still, it's a great ride. Lots of nature not many people. I give this ride 3 stars out of 4.