Explore the best rated trails in Aurora, CO. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Sheep Draw Trail and Loveland Recreation Trail. With more than 79 trails covering 602 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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The Mary Carter Greenway (a.k.a. Arapahoe Greenway) runs for 8 miles along the South Platte River from Chatfield State Park near Columbine north to Englewood. Here it meets up with the Platte River...
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The Alameda Bike Path is a separated bike-ped facility along Alameda Parkway/ Avenue. The paved trail stretches for over seven miles from Jewell Avenue to just east of SR 95 in Lakewood, a suburb of...
The Weaver Gulch Regional Trail runs east-west across the northwestern edge of the suburb of Littleton, following the course of a greenbelt converted from a drainage ditch through a series of...
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The Bear Creek Trail provides a taste of the country in the city, connecting downtown Denver with the foothills of the Rockies. Along the way, enjoy scenic views of woodlands, meadows and Bear Creek,...
The Niver Canal Trail parallels the Coronado Parkway for nearly 2 miles across Thornton, a northern suburb of Denver. About mid-way, the trail passes Rotella Park, which offers restrooms, picnic...
The East Plum Creek Trail begins in a field across the street from the Native Legend Open Space. It goes through an underpass under Meadows Blvd near Castle Rock Middle School. The next few miles of...
The Wonderland Creek Greenway stretches just over a mile along its namesake waterway on the north end of Boulder. The trail begins at Norwood Avenue near Centennial Middle School and meanders...
The Firestone Trail mostly parallels Colorado Boulevard between Dacono in the south and north of Firestone, at the northern end of the trail. The trail is paved and provides access to parks,...
The trail on the east side of Bradburn Boulevard is relatively short, but it makes an important connection between two major Denver metro trails. Following the trail north brings you to within feet of...
Closely following its scenic namesake waterway for most of its journey, the popular Boulder Creek Path runs east from Boulder Canyon to the outskirts of the Valmont Reservoir. Its western end is dirt...
The Centennial Link Trail, parts of which were formerly known as the Little Dry Creek Trail, lives up to its name by providing a useful link between the outskirts of Littleton and Centennial, forming...
Weir Gulch cuts a narrow, jagged path through the landscape of west Denver down to the Lakewood border. A greenway path imitates the course of the stream, winding from the edge of the Platte River...
The Loveland Recreation Trail encircles the "Gateway to the Rockies," offering views of the mountains and access to many of Loveland's natural treasures. While the trail is mostly complete, there are...
The Happy Canyon Trail runs for just over 4 miles through the communities of Centennial, Cottonwood and Parker on the southern outskirts of Denver. To the north, the trail begins at in the Cherry...
The Castle North Trail provides a safe, non-motorized connection between the Castle Rock Community Recreation Center and Castle North Park. The paved pathway cuts right through the heart of the...
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The Pioneer Trail links Bergen Park to Evergreen Lake through Elk Meadow Park. The trail can be accessed from the Bergen Park and Ride, and stretches south for about a mile before ducking under SR 74...
The 6th Avenue Trail provides expansive views of the Rocky Mountain foothills as it follows its namesake thoroughfare (also known as US 6) from the Colorado School of Mines in downtown Golden to...
The Willow Creek Greenbelt Trail is a six mile, paved and soft-surface trail that runs along a creekbed in the suburban area around Centennial. The trail begins in the north outside the Holly Park...
With only 4 miles of an eventual 65 miles open, the already award-winning Peaks to Plains Trail is attracting new users every day. While US 6 basically parallels Clear Creek, the Peaks to Plains Trail...
The West Toll Gate Creek Trail provides a convenient north-south route through Aurora from Horseshoe Park to Quincy Avenue. The trail, just over 3 miles long, is dotted with trees and winds through...
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The Platte River Trail is just one of many of Denver's superb multi-use trails, this one stretching from just north and west of Englewood and heading north toward Henderson. The 28.5-mile trail...
The 6th Avenue Trail provides expansive views of the Rocky Mountain foothills as it follows its namesake thoroughfare (also known as US 6) from the Colorado School of Mines in downtown Golden to...
The Cook Creek Trail is a short, paved trail located in the suburban community of Lone Tree. The trail originates in Cook Creek Park, home to a local pool, tennis courts, and a portion of the Willow...
The Mary Carter Greenway (a.k.a. Arapahoe Greenway) runs for 8 miles along the South Platte River from Chatfield State Park near Columbine north to Englewood. Here it meets up with the Platte River...
At the foot of the Rocky Mountains, the Coal Creek Regional Trail offers spectacular views of the front range. You can even identify surrounding peaks with the "peak finder" signage provided at the...
Denver's Sanderson Gulch Trail follows the small stream for nearly 5 miles through several parks, offering a natural oasis right in the heart of a major city. Much of the paved route has an open feel,...
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The Union Pacific Trail runs for just a short distance between E. 100th Avenue and Thornton Parkway in the Denver suburb of Thornton. The trail runs through a shadeless corridor alongside a railroad...
The Switzerland Trail in the peaks west of Boulder was named for the spectacular mountain scenery along this remote and former railroad route. Although why it had to be named after another country...
The Farmers’ High Line Canal Trail provides an easy, pleasant way to traverse the northern suburbs of Denver. The paved pathway stretches more than a dozen miles, connecting Westminster, Northglenn,...
The Kipling Trail sits beside Kipling Parkway/ State Route 391 extending from Lakewood to Littleton, southwest of Denver. While there’s enough miles to offer a good workout, or to run errands between...
The West Toll Gate Creek Trail provides a convenient north-south route through Aurora from Horseshoe Park to Quincy Avenue. The trail, just over 3 miles long, is dotted with trees and winds through...
The Massey Draw Regional Trail, located in the southern suburbs of Denver, connects the longer Columbine Trail to a series of local parks and amenities. This quiet, pleasant concrete path takes you...
The Niver Creek Trail winds through Thornton, a northern suburb of Denver, connecting parks, riparian areas and open space inhabited by prairie dogs, coyotes, numerous bird species, and other...
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The Powerline Trail provides a convenient east-west route across Aurora. This concrete pathway begins in Horseshoe Park, where trailheads for the Cherry Creek Spillway Trail, Toll Gate Greek Trail and...
The Poudre River Trail tracks a 21-mile, scenic course along Cache la Poudre River between Windsor and Greeley. The paved trail is popular with hikers, runners, cyclists and inline skaters. The path...
Built on the site of the historic "City Ditch" in Littleton, which is over 150 years old (portions of which are still in use today), the Littleton Community Trail provides a short but pleasant urban...
Located on Aurora’s south end, the Railroad Bed Trail offers a 2-mile diagonal pathway within Cherry Creek State Park, a recreational gem with opportunities for camping, fishing, swimming and...
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Gaining only 200+ feet in elevation, the Narrow Gauge Trail is in Pine Valley Ranch Park, a beautiful open space near the mountain community of Pine, Colorado. The trail follows the north bank of the...
The Van Bibber Creek, Park and Trail all owe their name to Isaac van Bibber, an early settler to the area. The trail begins on Oak Street and heads west in the swathe cut by the creek through the...
The Pioneer Trail links Bergen Park to Evergreen Lake through Elk Meadow Park. The trail can be accessed from the Bergen Park and Ride, and stretches south for about a mile before ducking under SR 74...
The Castle North Trail provides a safe, non-motorized connection between the Castle Rock Community Recreation Center and Castle North Park. The paved pathway cuts right through the heart of the...
The Coal Mine Trail is a short sidepath trail that connects the Columbine Trail with the Dutch Creek Regional Trail, running for most of its length alongside Coal Mine Avenue in the suburban community...
The Longmont-to-Boulder Regional Trail (nicknamed the LOBO) extends more than 10 miles between these two major cities and taps into the region's vast network of trails. Most of the pathway has a...
The Bear Creek Path begins just south of the University of Colorado Research Park and winds its way southwest to the Martin Acres community. The trail is paved and generally flat, although there is a...
The Little Dry Creek Trail provides a paved, relatively flat pathway for bikers, walkers and skaters through areas of Westminster and northern Arvada. The tree-lined route follows its namesake, Little...
The Cherry Creek Spillway Trail offers wide open views with the Denver skyline as a distant backdrop. Along the way, recreational opportunities abound as the path winds through Aurora's Wheel Park and...
The Switzerland Trail in the peaks west of Boulder was named for the spectacular mountain scenery along this remote and former railroad route. Although why it had to be named after another country...
In comparison to some of the lengthy, fantastic trails in the southern suburbs of Denver, the Lee Gulch Trail may not seem like anything special. However, it offers a wonderfully useful off-road...
The Mineral Trail, also referred to as the Railroad Spur Trail, is a short trail on the southern edge of Littleton that manages to pack in a suprising amount of variety and utility considering its...
The UCAR Multi-Use Path runs just a short distance from the campus of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research on Center Green Drive, linking buildings CG 1 and CG 3, to the other side of...
The Westerly Creek Trail provides a convenient north-south route through the heart of Aurora. It traverses residential and commercial areas and runs through two major community open spaces, Expo Park...
A short, but useful suburban trail, the Lilley Gulch Regional Trail helps to connect numerous neighborhoods in the community of Columbine with local parks and schools, and provides a safe and off-road...
At the foot of the Rocky Mountains, the Coal Creek Regional Trail offers spectacular views of the front range. You can even identify surrounding peaks with the "peak finder" signage provided at the...
The Toll Gate Creek Trail begins on the south end of DeLaney Community Farm, a 158-acre scenic property that educates and allows members to sustainably grow agriculture. Here, it connects to the High...
Gaining only 200+ feet in elevation, the Narrow Gauge Trail is in Pine Valley Ranch Park, a beautiful open space near the mountain community of Pine, Colorado. The trail follows the north bank of the...
The Niver Canal Trail parallels the Coronado Parkway for nearly 2 miles across Thornton, a northern suburb of Denver. About mid-way, the trail passes Rotella Park, which offers restrooms, picnic...
Denver's Sanderson Gulch Trail follows the small stream for nearly 5 miles through several parks, offering a natural oasis right in the heart of a major city. Much of the paved route has an open feel,...
The Dutch Creek Regional Trail provides an opportunity to experience some natural beauty and tranquility amidst the suburban surroundings southwest of Denver. Currently running for a shade over three...
Elmer's Two Mile Creek Greenway begins just north of Elmer's Two Mile Park on the north end of Boulder. It's paved and generally flat, traveling through open spaces, parks, neighborhoods and...
The Sand Creek Regional Greenway follows Sand Creek in Denver's northeast metro area. The southern end of the trail, through Denver and Aurora, has a soft surface, which can make for a dusty ride when...
If you do this ride round trip, the elevation gain is over 1,100 feet. Not a bad ride and if you look in the distance the view is nice. However, the trail is parallel to Kipling so you’re riding next to a busy street with a lot of traffic lights. That said, the drivers were extremely nice. We are cyclists that obey all traffic laws and it was great how we could ride in unison, thanks Lakewood!!
I didn't get a chance to explore all of this trail, but I was very impressed with what I saw of if as well as the Denver cycling infrastructure in general (handlebar videos available at youtube.com/ratbas). The idea of being able to ride for miles through a major city without having to cross an intersection is very enjoyable. The trail is well maintained, has good signage and plenty of public are while taking you past many points of interests. There are also countless access points to make it very practical for commuters and tourists.
This is a great concrete running trail that is moderately shaded and pretty easy to follow. It connects with a couple other trail systems, most notably the Clear Creek Trail on the eastern end. Sometimes there are concentrations of homeless underneath Wadsworth Blvd. but they seem to keep to themselves. Occasionally, the disc golfers at Memorial Park will take up the whole path and/or smoke, but that's just a minor personal annoyance.
The worst part of the trail is when the trail briefly ends and you have to run along Brooks Dr. and Johnson Way on either the sidewalk or the road to get back onto the trail at the Apex Tennis Center.
Traveling west is an ever slight incline and as you reach the end of the trail on the western end of the trail, there are some serious uphill climbs. In the winter, the city does a pretty good job of keeping the trail cleared of snow but there are still icy patches around.
Overall, this is a pretty good urban trail.
Pros: Pretty well shaded, well marked in most places and lots of places to access or exit the trail. Great views of the mountains around Pecos and Federal when running westbound.
Cons: There are a lot surface-level street crossings starting at and east of Huron St. Trail runs next to busy roads for stretches.
Perfect for an out of towner like myself. Trail was easy to follow especially with this app!
My wife and I rode this trail out and back this week. Parking was good but you do need to find the lots and that can be difficult. The trail itself is wonderful. Lots of shade, open areas, and mixed riding with a nice climb and decent coming and going. The surface is well packed and wide. We saw many other bikers and walkers even though it was a workday. Our biggest complaint, and it caused more miles than planned, is horrible to non-existent signage. There are large blue signs at some intersections with the trail name but no direction on the signs. There are numerous trail junctions to neighborhoods, other trails, and shopping but not one sign to show where the main trail leads. For added confusion these off-shoot trails have the same surface as the main trail and look the same. At one major intersection the trail split 3 ways, we took what looked like the main trail and ended up in a car wash and the trail literally disappearing. Talking with locals who were on the trail was no help as many only used the connector trails and did not know where the main trail was. After finally figuring out the main trail with many detours we turned around before we would have liked and headed back. So, if going on this trail, know the trail before you go.
This trail from Mile High Stadium north to Thornton was awesome. The path is all concrete with a few brief exceptions. The trail is well laid out, good signage. The are frequent rest spots and even quite a few places to relieve yourself if need be with porta potties that were surprisingly clean. Lots of wildlife and open areas. Well worth the trip.
This is one of the loveliest and nicely maintained urban bike trail I have ridden. The trail is paved and wide without many hazards on the pavement. The trail is well marked for the most part. I did miss a turn at one point and found myself on a different trail. Eventually, I turned back and found the correct trail again. I had missed the sign on a fork in the road and turned on to the wrong trail. The scenery is very lovely - it follows along a stream with pretty waterfalls.
Several different trailheads make this a fun spot to try many times. It is deceptively big and can be challenging or moderate depending on the route you choose. It is very popular- and in the fitness crazed Golden CO area, so you will meet others on the way.
I started at the northern terminus (small parking area) at 136th and Brighton Rd. I rode out to 88th Ave and back, which was 20 miles total. The first 6.5 miles to 104th Ave are very nice with less obvious/ugly man-made intrusions and lots of natural scenery. South of 104th, you see more fences, power lines, construction areas, urbanization, etc., but it is still nice as you travel along within the river's greenbelt. In this section, near the crossing at McKay Rd., there a couple of short gravel detours but also some nice new path [re]construction just being finished up. Overall, the path itself is excellent as it is wide and very smooth concrete. The course it takes is flat and easy though there is an overall ascent/descent (~10'/mile) based on whether you are going up or down river. Despite it being mid-December with no leaves in the trees and most everything browned out, there are some very pretty cottonwood groves and marshland areas Also, there was plenty of waterfowl varieties to see including Great Blue Herons and a fair number of raptors including a couple of Bald Eagles. I plan on returning during other times of the year to how it looks in the other seasons and because it is such a great recreation resource.
I had the opportunity to take this trail from mid-section to end at Cherry Creek State Park. I enjoyed it so much. The trail takes you through parks and follows streams and creeks. You get a diverse view of Colorado landscape including breathtaking views of the mountains on a clear day.
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