Is Denver’s new 177-mile Orbital Trail something you’ve been wanting to try?
There are some things you need to know before you go. Primarily, it’s not a true orbital trail. More like a suggestion of one.
Segment 26 of the trail sounded like an ideal outing for a group of adventure writers to meet up for an urban hike. We wanted to treat it as a thru-hike with a car parked at each end to make the one-way, 3.6-mile segment a reasonable amount of time spent out on a Sunday afternoon.
Our first challenge was finding the trailhead, or at least parking by the trailhead. We settled on leaving our cars on a quiet residential street across four lanes of road from Standley Lake Park in Arvada. From a split in the fence that we took to be a trailhead, we headed down a small dirt path on the embankment toward the lake, hopscotched through some mud, passed a scenic mural and walked under a bridge in order to get to the steps on the other side of the street.
Were we lost already?
“The DOT is an idea, an effort to get people out exploring great routes and trails around the region,” according to the website for the Denver Orbital Trail, denverorbital.org. Tip No. 1: I didn’t read this until a week after my excursion, but it made perfect sense to me in hindsight. Check out the website before you head out so you know what to expect.
“It isn’t a physical thing, I didn’t create any new trails,” said Michael Tormey, an engineer based in Golden, during a phone interview. “What I’ve done is share with people that you can walk a big circle around Denver. I’ve given people the resources they need to do that circle.”
Resources are the website where the segments are described. Most follow existing gravel, dirt, or paved paths in the metro area, which have been strung together to circumnavigate the city. Based on feedback, Tormey said that he has also made some downloadable maps for printing out. The website also offers tips for taking public transportation to various segment points and where to find restrooms along the way.
The trail lis made up of 28 segments that cross through parts of Denver, Littleton, Golden, Arvada, Northglenn, Thornton, Aurora, Parker and national wildlife refuges. Tormey says it is possible to bike the route with some modifications, but his preference was to walk it.
“I have so much gratitude for those who build and maintain the trails,” he said. “I want to give them credit for the DOT being able to exist in the first place.”
There are no signs marking the DOT, as my group discovered. At one point, we were walking along a canal and appreciating the trees in full bloom along the gravel pathway. Then someone following a map on All Trails realized we had missed a turn and we backtracked a few paces to a steep dirt path cutting down a hillside between someone’s backyard and a local park. From there we soon connected with the marked Greenway Trail as it wound alongside a creek.
Our interpretation of the trail instructions was that it went through Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge. We found the gates locked and a sign with their seasonal hours. Later, when I spoke to Tormey, he explained that the trail does not actually go through the refuge, so either we were lost or this segment has some hidden potential.
All it all, what we did was a pretty easy walk. And we did make it to the car parked at Majestic View Park, where there is a very nice view of the Rocky Mountains and a cute nature center for kids, then drove back to Standley Lake to retrieve our individual vehicles.
“The response has been incredible,” Tormey said of others who have been making the most of this new route he mapped. “My goal is for people to explore the DOT and to focus on what you can discover and come to love. People can get outdoors and discover something new to them.”
