City: Boulder, CO

Category: Tours & Attractions

Description: Boulder’s most popular “architecture” is 12 feet wide, 7.5 miles long, and flat on the ground. This 1980s project lets commuters travel without cars and in the prettiest possible way. The Creek Path dips under 10 major intersections, transforming traffic’s roar into a whispered “whoosh.” More than a half-dozen wooden pedestrian bridges crisscross the stream, clattering merrily as bicyclists and in-line skaters pass. The bridges are designed to snap to the side and reduce debris if a big flood hits. The whole path was designed with a rising creek in mind. Major flooding is rare, but every few years, some overflow happens. The city’s flower plantings along this route are a feast for the eyes.Each year, nearly 2 million bicyclists, in-line skaters, walkers, runners—you name it—use the Boulder Creek Path. Other nonmotor-vehicle routes from all over the city connect so people can really get around without cars. Be alert, however. Some fierce bicyclists and in-line skaters ignore speed signs and can scare the daylights out of walkers. Especially in busy areas near downtown, keep an eye on kids, your dogs, and your own tendency to stray. Choose your chariot—bicycle, feet, in-line skates, or wheelchair—and head to the path.The Boulder Public Library’s main branch (303-441-3100; www.boulder.lib.co.us), at 10th Street and Arapahoe Avenue, is a good place to start, and in fact, a stop to admire this gleaming facility is worthwhile, too. About 3,000 folks use it daily. Look for the dramatic glass entry on the Arapahoe Avenue side. Inside, the library has approximately 320,000 circulating books, an artists’ register showing slides of local artwork, and a computerized media/browsing system. Books can be delivered to the homebound who can’t get to the library, and another service transcribes text into Braille. Kid-pleasing attractions include a trout habitat, multimedia computers with interactive children’s software, and storytelling hours. The library auditorium on the Canyon Boulevard side is the site of a free year-round film and concert series. The BoulderReads! program provides free, confidential tutoring for everyone from children to adults. There are seven computer terminals with free Internet access, but be prepared to wait, as they are extremely popular. The library is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. There are also three branch libraries in Boulder; their hours vary from each other and the main library.Just west of the library is the West Boulder Senior Center at Ninth Street and Arapahoe Avenue. After passing under Ninth Street, be sure to notice the sculpture of Chief Niwot (Niwot means “left hand”) on the left. Continue westward to Sixth Street and Canyon Boulevard, where you’ll find the Children’s Fishing Pond, marked by an abstract metal sculpture that looks like leaping fish On your right is the Boulder County Justice Center, with courts for dreary things from speeding tickets to criminal cases, but also where civil marriage ceremonies are performed. Just beyond, west along the Creek Path, the Xeriscape Demonstration Garden. displays native plants that make environmentally wise gardening choices for Colorado’s arid climate, an herb garden, and a “wheel” of lawns comparing bluegrass, two buffalo grasses, fescue, and blendsContinuing westward, the path opens out to Eben G. Fine Park at Fourth Street, a favorite shady picnic and Frisbee-throwing area, with playgrounds and a congenial family atmosphere At the park, you’ll see a tunnel to the north, or right, under Canyon Boulevard. It leads to Red Rocks/Settlers Park, site of the 1858 campsite along Boulder Creek by the gold seekers who became Boulder’s first citizens. Historical plaques explain some of Boulder’s early history. Near more picnic tables, you’ll see a steep trail up to the nearly vertical red rocks, naturally called Red Rocks, and a fine hilltop view of the whole area. Take care should you decide to scramble up the rocks for an even better vistaBack along the creek path and just west of the park is Boulder’s kayak course. Even if you’re not into white water, it’s thrilling to watch kayakers and canoeists test their skills in the rapids during spring and early summer. Inner tube riders crawl into their black doughnut-shaped vessels here too for a bracing ride down to Broadway. Two historic markers along the path tell about the Switzerland Trail railroad line and Farmers’ Ditch, two early landmarks in the development of Boulder County.For a lovely walk into Boulder Canyon, keep going up the hill and to the west along the Creek Path (watch out for speeding downhill cyclists). After a while, the pavement ends, and the path dips under the canyon road and deposits you at the base of the Elephant Buttresses and the Dome, two of Boulder’s most popular rock-climbing spots. In one vista, you’ll see an old water flume and Lycra-clad rock climbers, a perfect combination on the Boulder firmament. Farther along the path, wild roses and purple asters bloom in summer beside the frothy creek, and wild plums and grapes ripen in the fall. The gravel path continues up along the creekside under the rustling cottonwoods and glinting ponderosa pines to Four Mile Canyon, about 1.5 miles away. The total distance from Eben Fine Park—the lower bridge at the east end of the park with a boulder marked 0 miles—to the end of the trail is 2.25 miles.If instead you head east from the Boulder Public Library, you’ll soon get to Central Park at Broadway. There are small waterfalls, historic railroad cars, a band shell, and sometimes an outdoor sculpture exhibit. The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (see subsequent entry) is across the street, east of the park.On Saturday mornings from spring through fall and Wednesday afternoons during the summer, the Boulder County Farmers’ Market. stretches on both sides of 13th Street between Arapahoe Avenue and Canyon Boulevard. This assembly features a colorful parade of produce, flowers, homegrown and homemade goodies, and weekly cooking demonstrations by local chefs. This beguiling attraction features a changing cornucopia of produce and related wares and has become Colorado’s most successful open-air market. Regulars use it as an opportunity to shop, stroll, nibble, and socialize. The location is perfect, close to the Pearl Street Mall and right next to Central Park. During the market’s early weeks, vendors specialize in seedlings that you can take home and plant. At summer’s peak, the street’s packed with local fresh tomatoes, Western Slope peaches, Rocky Ford cantaloupe and honeydew melons, green beans, lettuce, fresh herbs, and more. Tamales, pirogen, and focaccia give the market a true international ambience. Fresh and dried flowers, lavender water, hot corn on the cob, honey, and delicacies from goat cheese to smoked trout tempt from many stands. Don’t forget sweet ices, lemonade, and fresh-baked pastries—a big colorful crowd. The market opens in mid-April and runs through October. Saturday hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. After May 1, a smaller version is also open Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. until early October. Downtown workers appreciate the lunch menu at the Wednesday marketThe eclectic atmosphere of the farmers’ market is a perfect complement to Boulder’s unique Dushanbe Teahouse, located in the center of all this activity. In 1986, the residents of Boulder’s sister city of Dushanbe crated and shipped this elegant teahouse to Colorado. Because there was no unanimity on where it should be built or who should foot the bill, the crates remained warehoused for 11 years. Finally in 1997 the city council agreed (the vote was not unanimous) to spend $800,000 for construction of the teahouse at the 13th Street site. The funding helped bring artisans from Tajikistan to Boulder to complete the intricate assembly. The folks who run the cafe at the Naropa Institute now serve daily meals at the teahouse, which is also the venue for a variety of special community events.After you enjoy a meal on the teahouse patio, you can return immediately to the Creek Path and continue east, past Boulder High School and its athletic fields, to a sunny, stone-bench alcove just west of the 17th Street bridge.Just beyond is Scott Carpenter Park, south of Arapahoe Avenue on 30th Street (303-441-3427; www.ci.boulder.co.us). Carpenter, a Boulder native who became one of the early astronauts, named his spaceship the Aurora 7 after a local school. The playground has a spacecraft theme, and the park also has an outdoor swimming pool and includes Boulder’s state-of-the-art 14,000-square-foot concrete in-ground skatepark for skate boarders and in-line skaters. The park features an exciting street course with rails, curbs, free-flowing forms and bowls, and viewing benches made of old snowboards. The park’s sledding hill, which served as the city’s landfill many years ago, is one of Boulder’s enduring winter meccas.Farther east, just before Foothills Parkway, you’ll pass the CU-Boulder Research Park. Landscape designers decided the standard lawn would take too much care, guzzle water, and look boring. So they planted something much better—low-maintenance, drought-tolerant meadows that attract butterflies and birds. The result is so lovely that it’s almost too popular.At the intersection of Arapahoe Avenue and Foothills Parkway is a prairie-dog town. Prairie dogs get a bad rap as vermin spreaders, but health officials say it’s undeserved, and they are appropriate prey for raptors nesting nearby. Still, don’t feed them; they are wild animals and should stay that way. Kids love how they stand like little soldiers, then yip before diving underground. Prairie dogs are a remnant of the shortgrass prairie ecosystem and are food for swooping hawks.You can take the Creek Path northeast from here, to the tent-roofed stands of the Stazio Ballfields, at 2445 Stazio Drive, which are well-lighted and busy well into evening all summer long. Notice that the path veers away from the oldest cottonwood trees. Playing by the creek is fun, but human activity has caused creekside wildlife to decline. By keeping people farther away, critters, such as the red-eyed vireo and yellow warbler, have a better chance. If you ever hear a warbler sing, you’ll thank creek planners for giving those birds privacy. As the Creek Path spreads its tentacles, you can take offshoots either to the north or south through residential as well as industrial areas, which is one reason why it is so popular for commuting.