Sand Creek Regional Greenway

It has been many years since I have travelled Sand Creek Trail and recently I have found myself rediscovering it. The once hard to traverse sections that were manly a rough unnavigable mess have now been constructed with a smooth wide concrete path making the journey to/ from the Commerce City portions of the trail easy and pleasant. The Aurora sections south of MLK blvd are still a soft sand/silt combination however. I rejoice in the fact that there has been so much progress in the construction of this trail and look ever forward to it being 100% complete one day.

Riding this trail has been great, anyone wondering about big tire bikes, I recommend intermediate experience with trail riding, mtn bikes and balance.Pets, children and responsible conscientious adults preferred.

Sandcreek Regional Greenway is nearly a 14 mile trail system connecting the High Line Canal in Aurora at Tower Road and Colfax with the South Platte River Greenway in Commerce City. (It completes a 50 mile loop around Denver) It is the masterpiece of Aurora, Stapleton Redevelopment, Commerce City, and Denver. The trail is for hikers, bikers, and equestrians; my review is for equestrians. The planing committee for this trail took into considerations the needs of the urban horse owner, giving us a safe place to ride our horses and enjoy all the beauty this trail offers. There are places where you can hitch your horse and go in for a beer and several trail heads large enough for horse trailers. The footing is good and there are many nice stretches where you can get in a good canter. The bikers on this trail are mostly polite and understand that they cannot whiz by you or sneak up behind a horse. And most dog owners keep their dog on leash (required). As you wind through the city, there are safe crossings under each major intersection and over or through streams. You will see all kinds of wildlife including coyotes, porcupines, eagles, skunks, bums bathing under the Peoria street bridge, and an occasional nut job on the trail telling you he is praying for you and your horse.Yep, this is my favorite trail in the city. And if you happen to see a large brown horse with a god awful bright yellow saddle pad that says, Volunteer Horse Patrol, stop and say hi to Miz Scarlett and me; we are out making sure that the trail is safe for all of our other equestrian friends.

I've recently taken to 'urban hiking' - for lack of a better term to apply to the art of attempting to go hiking while remaining within Denver/Aurora limits. Sand Creek may be one of my favorite finds thus far; secondly only to Cherry Creek State Park, but c'mon. The trails here are light, yet the variety of landscapes keeps your attention. Ponds filled with geese and ducks, grassy plains, frozen creeks, and even a dash of industrial scenery. I particularly love the little lake/creek area that is currently beginning to freeze over in the most beautiful way. When I can't make it out to a climbing crag, I like to at least get my blood flowing with an 'urban hike' - and this place is ideal. I can't wait to come back and follow the entire trail; the area is notorious for wildlife sightings, and it'd be a great place for an afternoon of photography.

I love the Sand Creek, as it's a great east/west connector to the High Line Canal Trail and the Platte River. I can't wait for it to be paved between Quebec and Central Park. Walk2Connect leads a Sand Creek walk every 2nd/4th Sundays out of Star K. (see walk2connect dot com slash events.) I also post a weekly urban hiking suggestion, and Sand Creek is often on it. See EatWalkLearn dot com and click weekly suggestion under Walk. Watch for my Best Denver Urban Hikes book coming out this Fall 2017!

This is a fun trail that you can access via Denver's Platte River Trail. It runs through some industrial areas, but that just adds to the character of this unique urban treasure.Instead of writing a lot of information about the trail here, I'll just refer you to trailsnet.com. Another great website to find out information about Colorado trails is Everytrail.com under the username trailking. Once there, you'll find trails for Denver, the Front Range, greater Colorado, and the entire United States.

I bike this trail from Stapleton to Thornton and have to say I find it very enjoyable. At the moment there is quite a bit of construction at the Stapleton end and near I70, but it just makes the ride more interesting. It goes through the oil refinery area and then I take it north where it follows the Platte and enters an almost natural landscape. Not bad for a city trail. Have seen owls and coyotes so far. Now if only everyone could get off I70 and I25 and jump on their bikes.........

Most of it is paved and well maintained. You can ride into Denver from Quebec, but it's not all paved. If only they would extend this trail to Sand Creek Park in Aurora, then you can experience the beautiful ride from the burbs to the city.

I biked this from the Platte River Trail. The west part of this trail, and the part of the Platte River Trail that this comes off of, smell really bad due to some industrial sites nearby. If you're from the area, or are going on the east part of this trail, great, but if you aren't, you can do much better than this.

Explored some sections of this Greenway today in conjunction with their photo contest and was pleasantly surprised. The trail system is 14 miles long and offers a nice bit of scenery. I look forward to exploring more parts of it!