Completion of the Cherry Creek Trail South Side
 

Completion of the Cherry Creek Trail South Side

I participated in a "master plan updating for trails and bike routes" session for the Town of Parker last week.

One of the discussion items I brought up was the completion of the Cherry Creek Trail from Arapahoe Road south to the northern edge of Cottonwood subdivision - about 4.5 miles, with a couple of miles already intermittently completed, especially behind the new shopping center at the SW corner of Arapahoe and Parker and south through the Ecological Park.

The good news (at least for me, who hates riding narrow Jordan Rd) is that Arapahoe County has passed an open space and trails tax, and actually has some $$ for trails. They do plan on completing the trail.

The bad news is that the Arapahoe bridge over Cherry Creek is owned by CDOT, and they have no plans for replacing it. Technically, it will be a major, if not impossible task, to get a trail under the bridge as it is currently configures, although options are being considered.

I suggested, that, since they now have a traffic light crossing Arapahoe Road just west of Arapahoe and Parker, and that is where the current trail section ends, that they use that, and bring the trail on the north side across Cherry Creek (there is already a narrow pedestrian bridge on both the north and south sides, attached to the bridge) east from its present end - it winds around a utility plant of some sort. It would need to be extended about 1/2 mile east toward Parker Rd, and it would be easy to do, even widening the current shoulder.

I was told that this option was being considered, which would be a stopgap measure until the bridge is rebuilt by CDOT. Actually, if one knows what they are doing, one can ride from Arapahoe and Parker all the way south to Franktown on trails and a few relatively unused streets.

Anyway, it was an interesting meeting. There were only 5 persons there, besides the two planners. I pointed out several minor concerns regarding the Parker Trail System and also several great things. One thing is that their mileage sign is off by 2.1 miles for one section!

I guess you all know that I am not a fan of riding on streets with cars. At 70 years old, I have determined that careful use of MUPS is a safer way to go for me and my riding style. YMMV.

Genrally, I prefer roads to trails, but Jordan Rd. is not a safe cycling road, so this is good news. Thanks for the update.

I can't understand why, when they rebuilt Jordan Road a few years back, they did not make it just 5 feet wider on each side? As it is, there is absolutely no shoulder, and you have a 45 mph speed where you pretty much have to take the lane at 20, and folks get anxious and scary acting.

Thanks for working on this. I don't live down there myself but have done a fair amount of riding on the south suburban MUPs and have been caught on Jordan Road at dusk maybe more than a few times. Completing that link will be important for commuters as well as recreational riders.

How far south does the trail reach now? I remember for years it would just end in a field due west of the tennis bubble.

The trail goes south to Scott Road, which is a dirt road.

It then follows Scott Road east to another dirt road going south and paralleling Parker Road. After about a total of a mile of dirt road, you pick up the trail again at the swimming pool. The trail there is a bit rough, so the best way is to take Old Schoolhouse Road to Bayou Gulch Road, west on BGR, and pick up the cement trail again on the north side of the bridge. The cement continues south, under a new bridge, where you then go east on the sidewalk 1/4 mile, and continues south past the Hidden Mesa Open Space (about 1,500 acres), after which it joins Walker Road (hard pack dirt), taking you to CO 86. Cross 86, go east 1/4 mile to Castlewood Canyon Road and then head down CCR to the state park. The trail does not yet go to the park, although it does go under 86, where it rapidly dead ends with no outlet.

I ride the dirt sections on 700 x 25's quite easily and regularly except when it is wet.

It is a fun ride.

There is a 7 mile mtn bike trail in Hidden Mesa Open Space, with a trailheas off of Parker Road just north of the grange.

You live in town like me and I struggle to find roads I can ride and get in a good workout without stop signs and lights interfering. The weekends are no problem as I can get out of the city but for weekday rides I've given up the roads and hit up trails and the roads in CC State Park. I guess that is one of the costs of living in town.:notamused:

True. I prefer roads in the mountains.

I do ride the trail down to CC Reservoir when I am looking for some exercise in town. However, the best part of the ride is on the roads in the park. I find that it isn't too dangerous to cruise over 20 MPH once you get past Monaco.

I also ride the Platte Trail down to the lake. That is over 50 round trip for me, but there are some really congested and annoying sections so I avoid it on weekends. I also hate the knats in the summer.

I have some loops that are light on stop signs that I ride my fixed-gear on. Around City Park, out through Park Hill and back. Not too bad.

Thanks! I think I will try the road ride and the mountain bike ride.

That's fantastic news, thanks for going to the planning meeting.

We live in Cottonwood and ride the windy "back routes" to Corner Star every weekend for lunch, it's great to hear that we might be able to take a trail the whole way (and beyond, all the way to Confluence Park).

We've also investigated the odd trail that winds around the electric substation, seems like the easiest way for them to link that bit up.

Thanks for the info on the south end of the trail. I always stopped at the gate and assumed the gravel was too hard to navigate on a road bike. I have ridden Motsenbocker to Castle Rock but the traffic down 86 toward Franktown is a little intimidating.

I do it fine on 700X25's I would think 700x19 or 20 would be a more challenging ride.

I have some good news about the completion of the trail.

Every weekend or two I stop in at Creekside Bikes (just off the trail at Pine Lane & Parker Rd), and lately Don Leyn is there on weekends. He's on a lot of the local transportation planning committees and has been giving me updates on what's going on.

The land for the trail between Corner Star and Douglas County has been bought and the trail will be built this summer. If you go over the bridge to nowhere marked "Wagon Trail Loop - no north access" you will see a sign that indicates where the trail will continue.

Beyond that there is apparently a plan involving CDOT for how to get across Arapahoe, and talks are in place with the golf course regarding how to complete the trail through there. The problem with the golf course is that there are two holes on the course that cross the creek -- so either a trail would need some sort of netting/shielding, or the holes would have to be re-routed.

Since I've probably left something out or got a detail wrong, stop in the shop sometime and see if Don is there. He seems pretty happy about the progress being made and I bet he'd be pleased to talk about it.

Thanks for the update. Good news.

Why go through the golf course at all?

There currently is a trail from just east of Caley and Jordan (the spur from the park road) along the very wide and unused (and likely unused in the future) sidewalk and a bit through the patio homes that comes out along A Road and around the utility station on arapahoe Rd? Just use that.

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Go ask Don. I asked about the path behind the power station but can't remember what he said about it.

I'd guess it's because the Cherry Creek trail tends to follow the creek along its entire length. The golf course plan is quite a ways in the future and nothing is set in stone, it sounds like we'll have a usable detour in the meantime which is fine by me.

Sorry to bump such an old thread, but I just found a good site for anyone interested in completion of the Cherry Creek trail: http://www.co.arapahoe.co.us/Departm...rkingGroup.asp

Specifically, "Cherry Creek Trail Arapahoe Road Draft Feasibility Study" (which is dated Sep 2010) has some great maps on pages 23-28 that lay out the options.

Fascinating to me - they sure make it complicated.

Thanks so much for posting.

Interesting. I have not ridden down in that area for years. However, about 15yrs ago I built a house in Elizabeth and at the time I noticed a newly laid concrete MUP that crossed North/South under 86 just West of Franktown. I was intrigued but couldn't find an access point. I parked a dirt road and walked down the embankment, across the field to explore. I was hoping for a connecting path that headed straight to Parker but what I found was a beautiful, pristine section of MUP that went to absolutely nowhere. How frustrating! 15/16yrs later and after this thread I looked on Google maps and it looks as if the MUP is still more or less a "nowhere section" but has been connected (sort of) to Walker Rd (dirt) by a dirt path in the northernmost section.

Is this accurate?
Also, will this theoretically be the terminus for the connected system?

I always thought it silly that there wasn't a good multi-municipality plan to integrate a N/S trail system from Metro all the way to Franktown when open space was a lot more "open." Shameful oversight given opportunities and the growth of the area in the late 90s through 2000s. But what do I know...?

Please see this thread for current information and pictures of the trail which now goes just north of CO 86, but the small portion under 86 dead ends.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...wood-Canyon-CO

If it is anything like the extension of the platte through Thornton and Brighton it is going to take 20 years to complete it.

When I moved to Parker in 2001, I naively expected the CC Trail to be completed to Confluence Park in - maybe- a couple of years. WRONG!!

Sorry to bump the old thread again, but lately I've been talking to people who do not know about the "safe" way to connect the north and south ends of Cherry Creek Trail. It takes you through the Corner Star shopping area, through a gated community, and then a residential artery for about a quarter mile. Corner Star is probably the most dangerous part, but that's due to the complicated intersections instead of a speed problem.

http://www.ulfheim.net/pics/bikes/cc-detour.png

And since I'm drawing detour maps, here is DnvrFox's route through the soccer fields. This is an alternate route to the one above.

http://www.ulfheim.net/pics/bikes/cc-fremont.png

I now also cross Arapahoe Road at the lights at Chambers Way (to the west of Sunflower), pedal along the rough pavement chunks on the north side of Arapahoe Road, pedal across the pedestrian bridge, pedal as long as I can along the Arapahoe Road "berm", and when the pavement ends, carry the bike about 100 feet or so up to the right turn into the gas station parking lot, and ride from there.

Since I ride a MTB, northbound I cross at chambers, use the narrow bridge and drop down to connect to trail at substation. If snow on ground I just use sidewalk along Jordan Rd E side. Haven't encountered any pedestrians on it so far.

http://geobiking.org/images/CherryCr...20Arapahoe.jpg

The darker red line is Cherry Cr Trail, red line is Happy Canyon Trail.