Did Anybody Notice “the little gulch that could connect so many parks”?
“Water and Greenway People,
Some of us who live in the neighborhood surrounding the former Tamarac Square shopping center … are trying to improve the landscape plan behind the new Target at Tamarac. The new store is planned to have its rear to our Goldsmith Gulch. … As the water flows north, it connects several ponds and lakes in many subdivisions, greenways and parks: G. M. Wallace Park, Rosamond Park, Hutchinson Park, Bible Park and Cook Park where Goldsmith Gulch flows into Cherry Creek … . Goldsmith Gulch is the closest thing we have to a creek and greenway running through our neighborhood. … Can anybody help? … We are very concerned that during planning nobody noticed the little gulch that could connect so many parks. – Mark”
The complete version of that email was my introduction to Mark Kelley. He is spearheading efforts to protect and enhance Goldsmith Gulch. I received that email last August, and we began an email conversation. In March 2013, we finally met in-person to take a look at the gulch near Hampden Avenue (the area around Tiffany Plaza).
If you’ve driven through the intersection of Monaco and Evans, you have seen one face of Goldsmith Gulch. It originates a little south of Arapahoe Road, between I-25 and Dayton Street. It flows north-northwest through the Denver Tech Center, under I-225, under Hampden, through several parks, into an ugly detention pond just east of Monaco and south of Iliff, underground past Evans, into a man-made canyon between houses from Jewell to Mexico, emerging as an open channel in Cook Park. It joins Cherry Creek a little east of Monaco, at the north end of Cook Park.
I recently walked five miles (2.5 miles upstream & 2.5 miles downstream) to get to know the creek better. I found stark contrasts: wonderful walking experiences juxtaposed against horrible walking experiences. I started in Rosamond Park, near the intersection of Quincy and Tamarac Drive. Rosamond Park is great, but in order to continue south, I had to walk through the intersection of DTC Boulevard, Quincy, and I-225. I have driven that route numerous times, but my walk was truly a revelation. Neither the designers of nor the current users of that intersection convey an awareness of pedestrians, bicyclists or the creek.
Once I made my way into the DTC, things improved quickly. Generally the farther south (upstream) I walked, the more peaceful my experience. I walked past Belleview and Orchard to Tommy Davis Park in Greenwood Village. I hated to turn around, but …
North of I-225, the gems in the corridor are Rosamond Park (Quincy to Princeton), the complex of Hutchison Park and Bible Park (Eastman to Yale), and Cook Park (Mexico to the confluence with Cherry Creek). There is work to be done between the gems. Some detours away from the creek may be the short-term way to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists.
Briefly, the bigger picture: the Highline Canal Trail could connect Goldsmith Gulch to its neighbor to the west, Harvard Gulch, and to its neighbor to the northeast, Westerly Creek. When I walked the Highline Canal between Alameda and Florida, I greatly enjoyed the experience. Let’s put this green network together!