Originally Posted by
DataJunkie
You can also head north on the platte to where it meets another trail (cold creek?) and take that out to lookout. Though it is a tad schetchy at times and heads through some interesting areas.
Since I am in thornton I prefer to take 120th out to 93 and drop into Golden from the north but that trail is fine from time to time.
That would be
Clear Creek. MOst of it is fine. The park just west of Wadsworth is a local lover's lane (literally) and the part just east of Pecos has historically been a make-out area for male gays. The sheriff cleans it out every now and then. I used to ride that almost daily. Along the Clear Creek Trail are several other trails. Explore.
Also, head up to the northern end of the Platte River Greenway (aka Front Range Trail). You can go east on the Sand Creek Trail through beautiful downtown Commerce, City,observing oil refineries and the like - but oce you get aways east, it gets better.
I believe I have ridden every major trail in the Denver Metro area, except Tollgate and Piney Creek east. Here is a trail map of the major trails in the area. Several trails have been lengthened and new routes have been added, but this is the basic structure.
For a fun challenge do the entire Highline Canal, from the starting point in Waterton Canyon to the end point in Aurora - 66 miles, mostly a hard dirt/gravel surface interspersed with cement and pavement. Very pretty through Littleton and Greenwood Village - best to use a bike with larger tires, though (but you CAN do it on a roadie).
This will be a low-speed trip.
