This 3.25-mile trail and its climbing areas connect downtown Golden to Clear Creek Canyon, continuing west past Tunnel 1 along US 6. Most visitors travel it as an out and back (6.5 miles total) or as a loop.
Three trailheads along the route offer more than 170 parking spaces, restrooms, and shade structures. The Gateway Segment offers a bike repair station, bike rack, and a drinking fountain with a ground level spout for dogs. The CCR Trailhead, the newest segment, adds parking for 42 cars, 1.5 miles of fully ADA accessible trail with five bridges, and Jeffco Parks & Open Space’s first viaduct trail structure.
Further into the canyon, on a segment that will someday link to Golden, the Big Easy Trailhead features fishing platforms, picnic pavilions, a geology garden, and a boardwalk connecting to the Mayhem Gulch Trailhead at Centennial Cone Park, a designated and alternating use trail park.
The trails are multi-use and open from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset, with electronic gates enforcing a no overnight parking policy.
Eventually, the Clear Creek Trail will extend all the way from Denver’s South Platte Trail to the headwaters of Clear Creek at Loveland Pass. This route will span four counties and seven cities while climbing more than a mile in elevation.