After spending half a day at the Denver Convention Center, my colleague and I decided to go on this Cherry Creek Trail to stretch our legs and get some exercise in. The trail is fully paved and runs all the way down, you guessed it, Cherry Creek. Along the way, we saw families of ducks and geese. It was an easy and relaxing walk, flat all the way. read more

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July 28, 2027 - Denver The Cherry Creek Trail was a nice break from exploring downtown Denver's busy streets and shops. We accessed the trail at Larimer and 14th, walked to Confluence Park, and back for about a 3-mile round trip. The trail is wide, paved, and pleasant to walk. We didn't realize at first that one side is designated for pedestrians and the other for bikes and scooters, so we started on the wrong side. We figured it out quickly, although the access point we used could have been marked more clearly. We visited on a hot day, and this stretch of trail had very little shade. Since the trail sits below street level along the river, there wasn't much of a breeze either. Once we were on the pedestrian side, we felt comfortable walking our dog, although one scooter zipped past us much too fast. We also noticed a few homeless about, but we felt safe during our midday walk. Overall, it's a pleasant urban trail and a great way to enjoy the river while taking a break from the downtown crowds. read more

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Pretty little trail right in the center of the city, what's not to love? I happened to stay at a hotel across the water from downtown so every evening I'd pass by this beautiful trail and see people just enjoying the outdoors, playing in the water, chilling on the perimeter, biking, running while the sun is setting. You do get a beautiful view of the sunset from here. read more

Cherry Creek Trail - Hiking Near Me - Denver, Colorado

Great walking trail by the water, lots of shade, separated trails for pedestrians/runners versus bikes which I appreciated. We had our own graffiti tour, admiring lots of street art along the walls, some realistic, a lot cartoony, super fun. Not too much trash to be seen but my husband commented if we lived here he walk the trail daily and pick up trash to keep the water from being polluted. Highly recommend! read more

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Loving Denver City still, Looking for a trail near water to do a walking meditation while in Denver I was over joyed to find this little gem. I felt safe here. It was so nice and warm outside. One side is for bikes and scooters and the other side of the creek is for pedestrians. There was no one loitering about. Signs saying no standing or sitting periodically. I started uptown and walked till the end there was a child or two and a few dogs playing in the water. The path ended near Union station. It did continue on west but I decided to have lunch and visit the next place on my list; international church of cannabis. read more

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I really enjoy this trail. I've ridden my bike on it, walked and run. It ends at Confluence Park, so REI is always a good place to stop into. On most of the trail, pedestrians really have to be careful of bicyclists. read more

Cherry Creek Trail - A beautiful mural along the way - Hiking Near Me - Denver, Colorado

Terrific trail in the heart of downtown Denver. The trail is clean and safe, with separate sides for bikes & runners vs pedestrians only. There are lots of access points from street level to get to the creek and once you're there, you can literally go for miles. Despite the feeling of safety, I wouldn't run this in the dark. There are homeless along the trail and it's not worth the risk. read more

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This is an extensive trail running by an actual creek with numerous mini cascading falls. I biked the first eight miles and the concrete path was well maintained. One endpoint is at Confluence Park with eateries nearby. I turned around at the 8 mile marker because they were redoing the landscape. This is a popular path so mind your fellow humans if cycling. read more

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We had a few hours to spend in Denver before heading west into Colorado for a wedding, and we decided to stretch our legs and take in some views. We walked along the trail for a while around LoDo/Confluence Park. Unfortunately, the views from the trail are pretty underwhelming (at least at this time of year - late August): very brown water, dry and brown banks, etc. The water is pretty brown, the banks of the river and creek dry and brown,... It just wasn't very scenic. If you want a paved place for a run, Cherry Creek Trail is great. It's 40 miles of mostly paved trails! And we only saw this part that runs downtown around Confluence Park. I imagine other areas are nicer, prettier, more scenic. Since the portion we saw wasn't, the most positive things I can say are that it's well-paved and wasn't crowded when were there (but it was a weekday morning)! Nice to have a long trail in a city for biking, walking, running, but the portion we walked along was underwhelming. read more

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It's an absolutely beautiful walk, exercise, riding bikes! I walk it 4 days a week. I love it!

I like to run (I just like to eat and drink beer more, which is why I'm somewhat portly) and when I'm in a city, I love it when they have accessible trails near the city center. Cherry Creek Trail was very close to my hotel, so I put on my Sauconys and went for an early morning run my first day in Denver. I went down a ramp from Lawrence St and found myself on the "biking" side of the trail (seems like west of the creek is biking and east of the creek is for pedestrians in the downtown area) so I quickly went up the next ramp I saw and got on the correct path. It was early when I ran so it wasn't hot and the burble of the creek was lovely. As others have mentioned, there is a substantial homeless population around. I didn't feel unsafe but honestly I might not want my sister running down there alone early in the morning or late at night (not that she'd ever run, unless she was chasing an ice cream truck! sorry sis!) When you get to where it connects up with South Platte Trail and there is some construction you need to watch out for. As I was finishing my run it was getting close to 7 am and the trail was busier at that time but not super crowded. The pathway isn't that wide so I imagine on a nice weekend it might be hard to keep up a good pace but it's still great to have a resource like this right in the heart of the city. read more

Cherry Creek Trail - Hiking Near Me - Denver, Colorado

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This bike trail was so busy and full of homeless like others have wrote about . . It's a flat trail that you can go for a long time but it's dangerous with everyone going so fast on those stand up Scooters . The bikers were also going so fast that I thought flying saucers were going bye me . Also , I have a problem with homeless leaving there trash everywhere , they don't have jobs . The least they can do is pick up after there selves and stop pollution natural beauty. Bunch of grungy scrubs wanting to live off the land then leave there dirty underwear all over the bike trails . read more

I used to live in LoDo and would walk my dog along this trail all the time, from around LoDo over to the top at REI, where she would play in the water up there. I was back in town this weekend staying with a friend in Cherry Creek, and ran starting from her place and did a 9 mile run (4 1/2 each way, took me up to about Arapahoe street). I love this run, so simple to follow, no traffic lights. The biggest thing to lookout for are cyclists, they think they own this trail. Water was flowing, ducks were swimming around, there's some cute art painted on the walls along the way. And actually very few homeless camped out, maybe saw just 1, and another set of stuff but not the person (comparatively there would be so many homeless camped out on a trail like this in San Diego). read more

Denver boasts 85 miles of paved trails. One of its most popular paved trails is the Cherry Creek Trail. The Cherry Creek Trail is a 42 mile trail that starts at the South Platte River and parallel South Platte River Trail in Confluence Park in the north and ends at Castlewood Canyon Park in the south. This is a major trail that connects to numerous major trails that include the Front Range Trail which will eventually travel the length of Colorado from New Mexico to Wyoming. The two times that I hiked on Cherry Creek Trail, it was on the leading mile. This is a quality mile where Cherry Creek Trail weaves alongside Cherry Creek through the heart of downtown Denver. To elecudiate why the Cherry Creek Trail experience is worth the time invested, in the following paragraph I will paint a word picture of the Cherry Creek Trail in perspective to the immediate downtown area. In downtown Denver the major street that runs southeast to northwest is the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall. This is the epicenter of the tourist zone. It's southernmost limits reaches the Capital District where it's northernmost limits reaches Union Station and the South Platte River parkland. Perpendicular to the 16th Street Mall are interesting streets including Larimer Street. Generally speaking the tourist such as yours truly travels on 16th Street then traverses the Millennium Bridge ending up by the South Platte River. Now when the tourist becomes more familiar with downtown Denver he or she would like to walk a different way that is interesting and parallel to the 16th Street Mall. I learned that way is the Cherry Creek Trail. From Confluence Park by the South Platte River and Trail at Mile Marker 0 to Calfax Avenue at Mile Marker 1, the Cherry Creek Trail generally parallels the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall. From this point on, I will review through our two personal first-hand experiences hiking on the Cherry Creek Trail. The first time we hiked the trail was northbound from Larimer Square. My recommendation is to access the trail from Larimer Square then do a loop to the river parks then hop on the Millennium Bridge back to the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall. That is what we did the first time. The second time we hiked it via the REI Flagship Store Starbuck's across the river to the Denver Diner at Colfax then Welton Street back to 16th Street. The best way to explain hiking on the first mile of Cherry Creek Trail is by comparing a Parkway to a street. This is a non-motorized Parkway with the picturesque Cherry Creek running through the dual track trail. In the course of a mile, if I am not mistaken we passed under 16 bridges. The Parkway feeling came into effect when I saw the signs for the familiar streets that also cross 16th Street. Where two blocks east these streets are urban, here they are bridges crossing over the trail in the shade of mature trees. To access these streets, in similar style to driving on a parkway, you exit off the ramp. From my first hand experience walking on Cherry Creek Trail it was more of a speedway than a Parkway. There was heavy bicycle traffic where some of them were more determined to get nowhere fast than to take in the tranquility of a bobbing stream where water birds progressed at a far slower pace. We had one instance where we were hiking two wide on the trail when a bicyclist scolded us, "Share the trail." In reality we were better off on the east bank trail where bicyclists were few. The bicycle verse hiker (or pedestrian) conflict is alleviated along a short stretch north of Larimer Street where pedestrians are directed to the east bank trail and bicyclists to the right. I think this ought to be the rule for the whole first mile. The bicycle verse hiker conflict kept me on my toes (literally). On its leading mile in downtown Denver, the trail passes by interesting points of interest. This includes the universities and Pepsi Center to the west, Sculpture Park, the Denver Museum of Art, and Denver Convention Center to the east. However, it is difficult to see these points of interest because the trail and parallel creek appear submerged. As a matter of fact, south of Speer Boulevard both travel in the median of the dual roadway. The trail does provide grand views of the skyline and hand drawn mural art drawn on the border walls. The grandest view is at Mile Marker 0, where the trail merges into the South Platte River Trail and the parallel creek empties into the roaring rapids of the South Platte River. Just across the river is a 4 star trailhead: the REI Flagship Store Starbuck's. This is the ultimate starting or end point of the Cherry Creek Trail. I am a fan of trails period. The time that I spent on the Cherry Creek Trail was 100 percent worth the investment in time. Unlike a very small element of the bicyclists that were in a rush to get nowhere, I enjoyed every minute to get somewhere casually hiking on the Cherry Creek Trail. read more

This is my favorite trail to walk downtown. It goes right through the city and very safe from traffic! I rollerblade here as well

Are you kidding me? What a fun way to get around the city on your bike, rollerblades, or on foot at a jog or a leisurely stroll. I love that I can ride my bike on the Cherry Creek Trail from my house to either downtown or Cherry Creek State Park without ever pedaling on the street. Brilliant! Obviously, this is a popular and heavily used trail so here are a few things to remember: Bikers, this is not time trials. Please slow down in crowded areas. Dog walkers, please keep your dog on a short leash. A long leash across the path can be dangerous to others and/or to your dog. Runners and walkers, please travel single file in crowded spots to allow bikers riding in both directions to pass. By working together, we can all have a safe and delightful journey on the Cherry Creek Trail no matter where the path leads us. Thank you for your courtesy! (Stepping off my soapbox.) read more

Cherry Creek Trail or the "Denver Bike Highway" as I like to call it is the best way to traverse the city form one end to the other freely, and safely without having to worry about being hit or honked at by the multitudes of cars that travel the city streets. There are many exits along the way and you get to pass many parks and other attractions if you need to stop and rest. A few things that you need to look out for is homeless, walkers, joggers, and other slow moving bikers. Also weekends in the summer, since it can get very crowded. read more

The Cherry Creek Trail is a real great trail that stretches from the reservoir to the aquarium (just about 11.2 miles). My husband and I decided to walk the trail that was somewhat close to Union Station to the aquarium (it was a nice day and we figured we would save on parking). This trail was an easy walk and quite dog and bike friendly. We saw a lot of people riding their bikes along this trail. Parts of the trail was shady but overall, it wasn't. For the most part, I thought the trail was pretty safe and it was nice to take a quick stop at the REI flagship store and browse. I think that if we were just in the car, we may not have visited it (especially since we are not from Denver we probably would have dismissed this store since we shop at a few locations back at home.. but boy am I wrong to think this store is the same... it's massive and well worth a visit). But I do want to mention that because this trail is rather long and you do pass through a park, you may possible see a few bums along the trail. If I lived here, I would probably try to come out to this trail often on my bike with my husband and maybe one of my dogs. read more

The negative reviews about trash and homeless had me wary to try this trail for my daily run...and I'm from L.A.! Maybe it was the section of the trail I ran (off 15th), but it was a very nice spot. I ran at 6:30am in the summer and there were plenty of other people with their dogs and bikes and I felt very safe. I read elsewhere that one trail is for bikes and the other is for peds, but that is neither well-signed nor followed. At that time of the morning it wasn't a problem. It's an urban trail, folks! read more

I love this trail but the homeless have made it unsafe. It's full of junkies and encampments everywhere. What is Denver doing about this problem? I don't run here in the dark. Recent crime in the area: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/05/cherry-creek-trail-body-homicide/ read more

Running on Cherry Creek trail when the sun is shining and everyone is out enjoying the fresh air and babbling brook is awesome! Running on Cherry Creek in the winter when the wind is blasting at street level and it's calm and cool down by the stream is calming! Running on Cherry Creek...well you get the idea, we love it. It's close to our house, great for walking, cycling, running, dog-walking and just plain meandering along and it gets you our of the house and burning some calories so you can go eat and Yelp! Rinse and repeat! read more

This trail is great for biking, running, or taking a stroll. I take the trail home from work and when I want to take advantage of the beautiful days. The trail has many wild animals to see. Mostly bunnies but deer, foxes, ducks, and other animals can be seen. The creek that the trail follows along is beautiful. And the flowers as well. :-) read more

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I really like this trail that runs along Cherry Creek. I was only on the trail for two miles out and two miles back. And even though there is a lot of traffic in the downtown area, I had a run without the worries of stop and go traffic signals and without any concern of being a speed bump for an automobile. The trail is 42 miles, is completely paved, and runs from downtown Denver south to Franktown. You can hear the running water along side the trail and it's wide enough for all cyclists, runners, and walkers. There are some areas littered with trash and some vagrants every mile or so, but I didn't feel in danger and it wouldn't detract me from using the trail again. Going southeast on the trial is upstream, so there is a very slight elevation gain, less than 1%, that you probably won't even notice, but what you will notice if you're not from these parts is the elevation. At around 5200 feet, I felt the lack of oxygen and had to take the intensity down a notch. Being a cyclist myself, there was a definite lack of courtesy of those on the skinny tires. Out of the hundreds of cyclists that passed me, only 3 gave me warning of passing "on the left." The obvious solution is to have the pedestrians travel on their left, but until they do so, just stay as far to the right when you're running and walkers don't walk more than two abreast. read more

Soothingly close to my college campus. I love walking here in gloomy weather. Who doesn't want alone time, surrounded by wild ducks and flowing rivers? I spy with my little eye a bunch of cyclists and rain drops dripping dropping in the whisper of natures mist. Most of the runners get runners high in the none-hills of the cherry creek trails. Very much a favorite spot of mine. read more

Wow has the trail come more and more scenic with murals and development along the path. In addition, the trail extends far beyond confluence park. This has to be the best bike trail in Colorado in my opinion! read more

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After a nice morning run along Cherry Creek Trail, thought I would update an old review. Its still a mess. Despite Denver City's token efforts to clean it up, its still full of homeless drug users (not just pot smokers, but needle sales and people shooting up.) There is plenty of development adjacent, and there's the industrial zone mess down town. So why give it another star? Because of the volunteers who spend time picking up trash, and the volunteers who try to fill the void to help the addicts and homeless. The park ranger who tries to keep a balance between the public and the law. The mentors who use it as a teaching aid, to teach youth groups about the value of urban water ways and water quality. And because of all of the artists and their murals. I really do appreciate the art alongside my morning runs. read more

I love, love, love the Cherry Creek Trail. The past couple months, I have really gotten into running and 100% have the Cherry Creek Trail to thank for this new passion. I moved in across the street from an entrance on S. Cherry Creek Dr. and it has been a game changer in my life. This trail is beautiful and so peaceful. It has helped get me out of the house to exercise, and the best part, it has gotten me excited about doing so. Daily, I look forward to coming home and running on this trail with my golden. My favorite thing to do is trail running right by the creek. It is a little getaway from the city. Hearing the creek babble and birds chirping makes you feel like you aren't in the city limits, but rather in the mountains alone on a secluded creek trail. I like to alternate between running by the creek and the actual paved trail. I'm noticing the paved trail getting busier as it gets warmer, but it is manageable. You just have to be aware of bikers flying by (and boy, do they fly). Also, the fact that you can jump on this trail and get downtown in no time is awesome. Getting to Cherry Creek or downtown is a breeze. I highly recommend that you utilize this amazing trail. I feel so lucky that Denver has provided the community with such an awesome trail to keep us active and happy. read more

Fun trail to walk around, I love taking the doggos here. They always have a blast with other dogs and the water. I wish denver would send some police to get rid of the homeless that are openly doing drugs. For the most part it's a pretty clean trail for a city. I always walk over if I go to REI free hour parking so it's a nice place to just think for a minute or two read more

How fast can you fly? The Cherry Creek trail is almost a bike highway, which I kind of think is fantastic. I especially love the last section where the trail splits off and bicycles get their own side of the creek. I can get from my apartment to the Confluence in only 8 minutes. I can get to Cherry Creek Mall in about 12. And I once got all the way down to Holly in about 17. Cherry Creek trail is such a useful conduit for bicycle riding that you forget about how beautiful it is. I love running along the trail so I get to experience it at a slower pace and enjoy the flowering crabapples, lilacs, water irises and other flowers that bloom alongside. Or whenever there is a larger storm, I enjoy watching the water crashing down the creek's chutes and rapids. In middle school, I once walked a length of the creek actually in the creek itself, the cool water rushing around my ankles. In high school, my biology class took samples from the creek and found everything from crayfish to dragonfly larvae to algae. So full of life. It's also amazing how long the trail is completely uninterrupted. You can go all the way from the reservoir to the confluence in one ride. I used to live in Austin and they have a similar creek trail, except for all the parts where the trail suddenly ends and you're forced to ride on a busy street. I guess Cherry Creek does that too, somewhere more south than I ever travel, but in Denver it remains a beautiful, and important thread to our city's infrastructure. read more

My husband and I ride this trail all the time. It is always well maintained. There are three ways that we can ride from Parker. Each different in their own way and very scenic. Vicki P. said it best (so I'm cutting and pasting, okay stealing) - it was worth mentioning again: *Obviously, this is a popular and heavily used trail so here are a few things to remember: Bikers, this is not time trials. Please slow down in crowded areas. Dog walkers, please keep your dog on a short leash. A long leash across the path can be dangerous to others and/or to your dog. Runners and walkers, please travel single file in crowded spots to allow bikers riding in both directions to pass. By working together, we can all have a safe and delightful journey on the Cherry Creek Trail no matter where the path leads us. Thank you for your courtesy!* read more

I've lived in Denver for three weeks and I love this trail. So I'm a cyclist, and a runner, and a skater, and a dog walker, and a human being. So what's with all the cyclist hatred folks? After reading the other reviews I was shocked at how many people gave this trail a poor rating because of cyclists. As a cyclist, I've never been on a trail this nice that actually allowed me to get somewhere. While I love rails to trails programs, typically they're out in the middle of nowhere and not helpful if you want to go anywhere besides more middle of nowhere. I'm a slower cyclist (getting used to the altitude, ugh) and all the fast spandex-ey cyclist were super courteous and let me know when they were passing. I read complaints of them not "on your lefting" and saying "on your left." Ya can't have it both ways. As a cyclist this is so you don't step left and they run into you. Trust me, it totally sucks for both of you. In general, biking around a US city is fraught with danger. At least when I see your right turn indicator I know you're going to try to hit me. When you don't use it, I don't know you're going to TRY to hit me and slamming into your car is no fun. This trail allowed me to make a 30 mile round trip with only the occasional giant pedestrian family taking up the entire trail to worry about. This trail rocks. read more

Was so excited to explore Cherry Creek Trail starting from downtown Denver and soooo disappointed that obviously Denver prefers the homeless sleeping in tents and a sanctuary city atmosphere more than the well kept attraction of a Natural Trail maintained with some of their money. SAD. don't be so open minded your brains fall out? read more

With most of this trail having separate sections for the bikers and the joggers/walkers, I loved using this trail with my music turned up as loud as I wanted it w/o worrying I was gonna get run over. With most of the trail right on the creek (and under the busy boulevard), I didn't have to worry too much about car traffic either. I usually started near the Cherry Creek Mall... and made my way up to the REI store near Confluence Park. The entire circuit is about 8 miles, ... a pretty good free work out! Plus, if you get tired halfway, you can stop at the Starbucks inside REI and grab a latte to keep you revved up. Oh! In the summer, there's Venice on the Creek too... http://www.veniceonthecreek.com/ read more

This a great trail which runs basically from the Platte river downtown to Franktown (with a planned extension to Castlewood Canyon). The trail itself get's five stars. It's paved, well maintained and provides a great (non-automobile) way to get between some interesting places. I knock two stars off the review however because, regardless of how good the trail is, you still have to deal with other people using it. So, one star comes off for the dog walkers who don't clean up after their pets. That is probably a bigger issue on the areas of the trail where i tend to be (closer to apartments), but it's still annoying. Another big star comes off for the cyclists. The trail seems to be primarily used by bicyclers, despite being marked as a multi-use trail. Of the 30 or so cyclists who passed me the last time I was walking on the trail, only two properly announced themselves prior to passing me. Several others glared at me as they passed. On some of the hillier sections of the trail the bikes get very fast, and rarely will the cyclists follow the rules regarding yielding to other users. Remember, pedestrians yield to equestrians and cyclists yield to everyone. Bottom line, if you're on a bike, it's a great trail. If you're walking or running, be very weary. read more

Running when you travel is never easy. Unless you're in a place like Denver. Then it's simple. The Cherry Creek Trail, which you can find by heading towards the river on 16th Street, is one of the best city trails I've run on. It runs along the Platte River, and occasionally divides itself for bikers and runners (in the narrow slots). If you're downtown, it's an uphill run going north. I ran 8 miles out and the Garmin showed about a 250 gain in elevation. My calves felt that too. Every time I looked, I felt like I was running uphill. There are one or two water fountains along the way at the bike stopping points, and one or two restrooms. For a runner, that's always nice. And there are people as well. I hate running along trails where there is nobody else. That wasn't the case. You're surrounded (but not crowded by) other enthusiasts. It made my days on the trail memorable. read more

Best trail in metro Denver. I walk the Washington Mall when Im in DC but outside of Red Rocks or Summit County this is good.

I live a few blocks away and can get to a lot of places on it. It's well-maintained. Even after heavy rain, the trail seems to be clear of debris. However, this thing is a clusterf*ck. From the homeless guy pushing a shopping cart, to the group of tour de france wannabes riding at 30mph, it can be congested and crazy. Also, people don't follow any sort of etiquette. I've approached blind turns, and have nearly collided with morons taking a BLIND TURN ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE TRAIL. Be cafeful. There are idiots everywhere. read more

As someone newer to biking in cities, this is a joy to ride around on. You can get downtown faster than in a car, most of the time. On a hot day that bit of water evaporation, plus the wind in your face, is refreshing. I did get hit in the face by a large bug, but when you go fast sometimes, you collide with bugs. The only thing is once you are on it, if you didn't plan ahead with your cross streets, it is easy to get carried away a blow past your exit. I think the exits could be a little better marked, but I will be more prepared next time. read more

I love this trail and most of all, I love that it's clean and well maintained! It's also a very rare occasion that I see neglected dog poop, which is always nice. For the most part, I feel like everyone is really respectful, but there will always be someone who annoys you - the Tour de France biker, the people walking on the wrong side, the biker that dings his bell ten times, people that walk four across, the angry dogs that bark like they want to attack my dog, etc. But hey, these people aren't the norm and it's just part of it. All in all, great place to go for a run, walk, or ride and I've never felt uncomfortable being by myself. read more

This is a great trail to ride on. It goes from the Aquarium area to the Cherry Creek Reservior. I'm around the Yale/Evans area where it starts and I've biked to both ends before. It gets busy on nice days but I've never had a problem. I jog sometimes but now with knee issues it's mostly biking. Recently I got off the trail for just a small bit of maybe 20 feet of grass and BOOM, goat head in my back tire and my friend had to bike back to get a vehicle to pick me up. The farmers' market is great to stop by in the Cherry Creek mall area. They have a nice array of produce and also a few food trucks in case you're hungry. There's an area to leave your bike and little tables to sit as well. read more