Cherry Creek MUP Trail
 

This is my going to be my first winter commuting to work and I currently ride the Cherry Creek Trail in Denver where the trail descends under the road. I was wondering how the trail is affected/maintained during the winter. Does the trail ice up? How well does the city maintain this trail. Thank You!

Not sure how many forum members are residents of the Denver area. So, your question might be better asked to local Denver-area cyclists, or the municipal/state agency that maintains the trail. I live in Rhode Island where the few trails we have are maintained by the state Department of Transportation (RIDOT). Obviously RI is a much smaller state...so in CO's case some of, or parts of trails might be the responsibility of municipalities, or even counties. They probably have email/phone contact info on their websites. Maybe even info for clearing the trail in winter. Good luck.
Dan

I used to live in Denver and ride the Cherry Creek Trail, usually between 6th Ave. and downtown, but sometimes out to Colorado Blvd. In my experience, it was pretty well-maintained, and I was rarely in a situation that required studded tires (at least on the trail.) In some cases, the ramps would be a bit hairy.

That was a decade ago, though, so more recent reports would probably be helpful. That said, I cannot imagine that maintenance has gotten worse over the years.

I commute to work using the Cherry Creek trail pretty much 5 days a week. It generally gets plowed pretty quickly. The parts that can get slippery are the wooden bridges, but last winter, I was able to ride every day except maybe 6 or so.

Within the City and County of Denver, Cherry Creek falls under the jurisdiction of Parks and Recreation. They get out and plow sooner than the roads are plowed as a general rule. The trail may still see some ice in places but, for the most part, it is clear.

The only wooden bridges I can think of that Le Mechanic referred to are way out east near Cherry Creek Reservoir. The rest of the trail and creek crossings are on concrete bridges.

Yeah, the majority of my commute is from the Cherry Creek Reservoir southeast to Parker. There's definitely more commuters from the reservoir northwest to downtown, but it all gets plowed generally before the roads. About the only time, I had an issue was a blizzard earlier this year with snowdrifts 3ft+ high, and some spots took a couple of days to get cleared.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cba143ce70.jpg

Just to be clear, I was talking about the section of Cherry Creek Trail within the City and County of Denver. That ends at Cherry Creek Res.

Kudos to the trail maintenance crews outside of the City and County for clearing drift like that. I travel west through Wheatridge and they never clear paths.

I don't know if they clear the paths here in Colorado Springs, I take the streets.

But in the central and south end of the Springs we only get half the snow Denver gets...if that.

I know that doesn't answer your question, I just wanted to gloat about the dryness.

Happy, safe and warm riding this winter to you! @Alloo (and everyone).