City: Boulder, CO

Category: Parks & Recreation

Description: Certainly the most popular and accessible park and the best way to see Boulder is the Boulder Creek Path, which cuts through the heart of the city, following the creek’s tumbling path down Boulder Canyon and out to the eastern plains. The Creek Path hugs Canyon Boulevard down to Broadway then veers off south under Arapahoe Avenue. It meanders back under Arapahoe after 30th Street. For a close-up look at what goes on inside the creek, from mountains to plains, stop off at the Boulder Public Library and check out the creek fish tank, complete with colorful rainbow trout. You can also take a peek under the water at the observatory on the creek near Folsom Avenue.Bicyclists, walkers, and in-line skaters crowd this scenic path, shaded by some of Boulder’s oldest cottonwoods and willows. The path branches off into various other routes and is accessible at sidewalk intersections throughout its length. Many Boulderites use the Creek Path to commute across town, so be sure to stay to the right or you might be run down by those on wheels. Stop and enjoy the scenery or have lunch at one of the many benches.The creek itself provides recreation, too. There’s a kayak course near the mouth of the canyon, catch-and-release fishing, and in the summer tubers bob from Eben G. Fine Park to Central Park. The water is too shallow and swift for swimming, but waders brave the chilly flow to reach a mid-creek perch on a rock.While you’re enjoying the rushing water, keep in mind that in the 1970s the Corps of Engineers suggested that Boulder might want to cut channels in the creek to reduce flood danger. Boulder, typically, took another path, bringing in huge boulders to re-create the creek’s natural profile of burbling rapids and quiet pools for resting fish. The city is gradually buying property along the path of the creek to allow the inevitable flood waters to spread with a minimum of destruction.The Boulder Creek Path is described in detail in the Attractions chapter.