Denver Bike Tour

Jefferson Park to LoDo and back in Denver, CO.

20th Avenue provides (more or less) a bike lane from the edge of Golden all the way in to the western edge of Denver. A couple of blocks before Sloan Lake, I detour down to 17th so that I can continue down to Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

The Bear Creek Trail stretches from Bear Creek Lake Park to the Platte River Trail in Sheridan. There are multiple points where the trail splits, but it always looks more complicated on a map than it does when you ride it.

This trail along the west side has some pretty nice views. It starts off with a little bit of uphill and then a lot of downhill. We go by Green Mountain and end up near the town of Morrison near Bear Creek State Park.

I created this Google maps with all of the bike routes I have done so far, and it will be updated as I create more routes. If you click on a segment then a link to the youtube video will appear. Over 100 miles covered so far and many more to come.

A street route with a bike lane the entire way on the border between Lakewood and Wheat Ridge. This is heading west until you almost get to I-70, then turning south on Youngfield. 26th Ave between Wadsworth and Kipling was being redone so the road was a bit bumpy along that stretch, but still rideable.

The northernmost section of the Platte River trail in the Denver metro area. I wanted to start a little further north, but the rest of the trail was closed due to recent flooding. This is starting at the north end and heading south towards Denver. It intersects with the Clear Creek Trail which you can take west to Golden, or continue on the Platte River Trail south to Denver.

This section of the Clear Creek Trail starts in Golden and goes through the middle of town. There is some uphill getting out of Golden and then downhill, followed by relatively flat (though still slightly downhill). It also goes by the Coors headquarters.

This is the middle section of the Clear Creek Trail which goes from the eastern edges of Golden to the northwest edge of Denver. It's mostly a straightforward trail that goes by a few parks and lakes. There is a section in the middle by Wheat Ridge Rec Center where you have to go on a road for a bit. If you don't pay attention to how everything connects here, you could have trouble getting through it.

Golden, CO is a small town of about 19,000 that lies just along the foothills west of Denver.  There are some nice trails in town as well as the popular Lookout Mountain to the west. This ride just goes along some bike lanes and trails in town.

Cheesman Park is a really nice park near the center of Denver. It's not nearly as packed as Wash Park tends to be. The road around the perimeter is not exactly ideal for riding a bike around since it is so small and there are lots of stop signs, but it's not too bad. The sidewalk is for pedestrians only, and there is also a nice gravel path around the park for running. It is also right next to the Denver Botanical Gardens.

A tour of some of the streets in downtown Denver. Some streets have bike lanes, while some have "sharrows" where bikes ride in the same lane as cars. 16th Street is the only street where bikes aren't allowed, except on Sundays. This video showcases the new 15th Street Bikeway (4:58) and the 16th Street Mall (10:48).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr6Ldd80ehQ

View the section of the Cherry Creek Trail after this section that I recorded earlier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr6Ldd80ehQ

Denver's First "Bike Way". Denver already has many bike lanes in downtown, but this is a new kind of bike lane. It goes down 15th Street from Cleveland Pl to Larimer St (approximately 3/4 mile long). I just discovered and rode down this stretch of road today. It's pretty nice...lots of green on the road. I am planning a tour of downtown Denver in which I'll include this new bike way sometime in the next few weeks.

Starting at 23rd Avenue by Sloan Lake, this ride goes down 23rd into the Platte River area. We go past the Downtown Aquarium, REI, and Denver Beer Co, then come back through some park areas on the other side of the Platte River. Finally, we head across the pedestrian bridge to the Highland neighborhood. The total route is about 4 miles.

This section of the Clear Creek Trail goes through some sparsely populated areas and is generally not that highly used. This ride was not long after lots of rain in the Colorado area and Clear Creek was rather high. There were three underpasses that were flooded, so I had to go over and cross roads. It connects to the Platte River trail which you can then take south into Denver or north into Thornton.