denver trails / commuting downtown to tech center

(Tune2828) said:

i live downtown denver and recently starting biking a few times a week to my job in the tech
center, off 25 and belleview - well not all the way, i ride down to the I-25 and Broadway park and
ride, and catch the commuter bus to tech ctr, (which is very efficient with no stops), then bike
another mile or so to my work.

now that i've done it a few times i'd like to tackle the entire route, about 10-12 miles each way.
i'm going to pick up a trail map but curious if anyone knows good off street paved trails or bike
friendly streets to get down to SE Denver. i know there's paved trails along buchtel and yale - or
one that ends up near happy canyon and hampden.

anyone have any good route secrets?

The Cherry Creek Trail runs along Cherry Creek from downtown Denver to Cherry Creek Reservoir with
only a few street crossings and it'll take you to within 1 - 1.5 miles of I-25 & Belleview. From
downtown, catch the trail somewhere along Speer Blvd and take it southeast. When you get near the
reservoir (you'll see the dam), the trail will take you past Kennedy Golf Course and then under
I-225. As you come out of the underpass, the trail curves to the left and goes up a short but
somewhat steep little hill. When the grade starts to level off, you'll see another trail head off to
the right -- take that and you'll end up at Union & Dayton near Cherry Creek High School. From there
you'd probably want to continue west on Union to wherever you need to go in the Tech Center.

Note that the trail currently has a detour around where Speer becomes 1st Ave. Follow the signs and
you'll end up back on the trail at the entrance to the Denver Country Club.

Another possibility would be to catch the Platte River Trail (aka Mary Carter Greenway) near REI and
take it south to Oxford and make your way east of Santa Fe and south a couple of blocks to Quincy.
Head east on Quincy and you'll end up at the Quincy/Happy Canyon/ Monaco intersection. Head south
from there to wherever you need to go. Quincy is usually a good street to ride and in places it has
a trail alongside if you'd prefer not to ride in the street.

The Denver Bicycle Touring Club (DBTC - www.dbtc.org) publishes a map that you should be able to
find in bike shops and maybe some book stores. This map is useful for finding trails and on-street
bike routes.

A site you might want to check out is the Colorado Dept of Transportation's Bike/Ped Home:

dot.state.co.usBikePedOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

and i don't know why i JUST started doing this. my bike isn't great - just a middle-line mtn bike,
but it's great to be out in the cool morning air, and breaks up a day of being in the office. plus
my gym is on south broadway too so easy to stop in. and if i get to worn down the first time i can
easily ride bus back - which all have free bike racks.

Congratulations on getting started!

--
Michael Fuhr fuhr.org~mfuhrOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

i live downtown denver and recently starting biking a few times a week to

my

Quoted message said:

job in the tech center, off 25 and

This is from memory a few years back when I commuted by bike from my home in the DTC to Westminster
(28 miles). I have since moved to Parker, and it is now 34 miles, which is just a bit too much. So
it is sort of murky in my mind, but here goes.

You can take the Cherry Creek Trail S to the Cherry Creek Mall, go across the creek to South Cherry
Creek Drive South and there is a residential cut off which takes you south to the east-west street
which crosses Colorado just south of the I-25 interchange.

Head south on the residential street paralleling Colorado until about Yale or Dartmouth, go west to
Colorado and cross at the light at Hampden.

Head south on Colorado (a 2 lane road that dead ends at Quincy) to Quincy, and from there go
south to Orchard or east to wherever you work in the Tech Center or E. to Holly (with bike paths)
and south.

Greenwood Village and Cherry Hills Village both have a lot of on-street but separate lightly used
bike trails, and there are ways through, but I would have to know specifically where you want to go.

A good route over I-25 is S. on Holly just past Orchard to Fair in the Palos Verdes neighborhood.
Cut through Palos Verdes to Locust, right on Locust to Caley, and follow Caley East across Quebec
and cricle Fiddler's Green where it crosses I-25 and you end up at Dayton and Caley.

The route you will take depends upon just where in DTC you work. Lots of ways to get there.

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Just a couple of more thoughts as I think about it more.

1. Cross I-25 at Steele south from Cherry Creek Trail.

2. Work your way south to Iliff, go east crossing across Colorado. Then head south.

Or, you may give me a call for better directions!! Sorry, it has been several years.

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thanks for the replies! this helps - and i've seen some of the cherry hills village trails too.

i'll post a report - although my first attempt will probably be one way in the morning.

most of my biking is around parks or renting when going to mtn towns, and i'm really enjoying
splitting the day up with a ride to and from work -and weather here in denver has been
stellar last week

I was really tired yesterday am and my thoughts were not together.

Better route:

Iliff east past Colorado to Dahlia

S. on Dahlia to Hampden

Cross Hampden, SE on Happy Canyon.

You can head east across I-25 on Quincy (if the bridge is rebuilt) or

continue s where Happy Canyon crosses Quincy and changes to Monaco, and go S to Belleview - left to
DTC, or go through GV on Monaco to Orchard and East to DTC.

Sorry, but this route is much faster.

Good luck and have fun..

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(Denver C. Fox) said:

Better route:

Iliff east past Colorado to Dahlia

S. on Dahlia to Hampden

Cross Hampden, SE on Happy Canyon.

You can head east across I-25 on Quincy (if the bridge is rebuilt) or continue s where Happy
Canyon crosses Quincy and changes to Monaco, and go S to Belleview - left to DTC, or go through GV
on Monaco to Orchard and East to DTC.

I've ridden that route and it wasn't bad. Making the turn onto Happy Canyon at that five-way
intersection can be a little hairy if there's a lot of traffic, which there probably is during
rush hour.

Quoted message said:

Sorry, but this route is much faster.

Depends on where you're starting and how much traffic there is. I usually prefer streets to trails,
but not if stop signs and traffic signals (which I obey) slow me down more than a trail would.

For regular commuting, varying the route can help keep the ride from becoming a boring chore. Try
going different ways and pick the routes you like.

--
Michael Fuhr fuhr.org~mfuhrOpen ↗