Access to Downtown Parks.. (Denver, Center: apartment, rent, loans) - Colorado (CO) - City-Data Forum

buffalobirdie · 06-16-2010, 07:24 AM

We are moving to Downtown Denver from Manhattan. Right now we walk to Central Park 4 to 5 days a week for running and biking. Which downtown parks are the prettiest and best for joggers and which neighborhoods have best access to them? For instance, if we live in LODO how easy is it to get to Washington Park? Any info! Thanks!

OneMoreMove · 06-16-2010, 10:54 AM

Everyone loves Washington Park but I'll take City Park any day

But then again, when I loved in NYC I much preferred Prospect Park to Central Park.

GreatBeyond · 06-16-2010, 12:33 PM

I live in the Cheesman Park neighbourhood, at a walkable distance from City Park, Cheesman Park and Congress Park. Washington Park is a couple of miles away. I would say City Park is the best for jogging trails, Congress Park for the tennis courts' availability and Cheesman Park for brisk walks. Washington Park has heavy use and joggers seem to prefer it.

Living in LoDo, City Park probably is your best bet.

GreatBeyond · 06-16-2010, 12:38 PM

of course, what is best about Denver is the relative easy access to the trails and paths in the foothills. You should be able to find links in this very forum with good information on them. Here is one - //www.city-data.com/forum/denve...foothills.html. Have fun.

DenverAztec · 06-16-2010, 04:58 PM

As for parks, I love walking and riding my bike in Washington as the path is decent and the inner roads are for bikes and pedestrians only. However, you will find that most of the city streets are just fine for walking and running and a great way to see the neighborhoods with out fear of being run over or having crowds to contend with like Manhattan. The Cherry Creek bike path is fantastic for riding a bike, and you can rent one for the day/week/month to try it out. The path runs through LoDo and along the Platt north/south and connects to the Cherry Creek river path. Which can provide easy access to Washington Park and all the way out to the Cherry Creek damn at the city limits. Plus, you can always attach your bike to the front of a bus if you want to be adventurous in another far away place.

Most of the parks are currently having concret paths put in this summer and many are great to visit, no matter the size. The flowers in Alamo Placita are incredible by summer end, Berkely, Sloans, Rocky Mountain, Washington and City Park all have great lakes to walk around. Civic Center park is where huge festivals are held right in the middle of downtown. Personally, I love checking out all the mansions along Montview Blvd, East 6th and 7th Pkwys and 17th Ave Pkwy. Walking Capitol Hill also has scores of historic mansions built from the late 1800s on up. Prettiest would be either Washington or Cheeseman, but the tree growth is fantastic in most of those mentioned above as they were all established close to when the city was established or in the early 1900s. Welcome!

buffalobirdie · 08-04-2010, 08:52 AM

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. My husband will be doing the leg work for us when he visits Denver next month. I SO wish I could go with him! I guess he will just have to judge from what he sees. My agenda is to locate an apartment that is: 1. adjacent to an attractive park that I can easily jog to and 2. one that is within a nice walkable neighborhood close to at least a few amenities (restaurants, shops, bars, grocery, drug store, library etc.).

neuro · 08-04-2010, 09:26 AM

If you a looking at LODO. your closest part will be confluence park. It is not as big as wash park but it has art and activities. you can also jump on a couple of running/biking trails that will then connect you to 130 miles of trails that loop around the denver metro

OneMoreMove · 08-04-2010, 09:35 AM

The parks in Denver are so much more open, less crowded, and generally more pleasant than Central Park (or Prospect, near my old place in Park Slope) simply because there are fewer people. The parks are all quite similar, in some ways, and living anywhere in the central part of Denver there's a good chance you'll be close to a park.

Don't rule out City Park - we are 3 blocks from it and all things considered, it's the best park to be close to in my opinion. It's big, lots of stuff going on, tons and tons of space and trails, etc. and there is Jazz in the summers.

If your requirements are 1) close to a park and 2) nice walkable neighborhood then you're in luck - those two requirements are easy to satisfy in Denver.

80skeys · 08-04-2010, 11:23 AM

My favorite park is Washington Park. It's a very large park. It's got a lake in the middle of it, tennis courts, volleyball, picnic areas and it's encircled by a biking/running/blading path.

There's a lot of other cool parks around Denver, most of them are small, but many of them are well situated and pretty. I don't think they have as much to offer the exercise enthusiast as Wash Park does.

woob · 08-04-2010, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneMoreMove

The parks in Denver are so much more open, less crowded, and generally more pleasant than Central Park (or Prospect, near my old place in Park Slope) simply because there are fewer people.

totally disagree here. the parks here are so dry and barren compared to central park, but that is because of the climate.