Denver Mountain Parks

Touring the Denver Mountain Parks, 1918

The Denver Mountain Parks system contains 14,141 acres (57 km²) of parklands in the mountains and foothills of Jefferson, Clear Creek, Douglas,and Grand counties in Colorado, west and south of Denver.

Owned and maintained by the City and County of Denver, this historic system was launched in 1910 and required Congressional approval (in 1914) for the city to purchase federal lands outside its municipal limits. Denver’s Mayor Robert W. Speer helped develop and promote the mountain park idea among Denver citizens; a city election in May 1912 gave voter approval to a mill levy to support the project. The mountain parks system was created “for the purpose of assuring perpetually to the residents of Denver the sublime scenery of the Rockies, the preservation of native forests and having for all time a pleasure ground in the mountains for the thousands of annual visitors to the city easily accessible.”

In 1912, Denver hired Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to plan the park system. Olmsted identified 41,310 acres (167 km²) of land that Denver should acquire for parks, mountain roads, and to protect scenic vistas. Acquisition of Genesee Park began in 1913; it was the first park established and, at 2,413 acres (9.7 km²), is still the largest. The last new park, purchased in 1927-28, was Red Rocks Park.

The Denver Mountain Parks system currently consists of 22 developed parks and other undeveloped parklands that serve as open space, scenic viewsheds, and wildlife habitat. It ranges in elevation from 5,800 to 13,000 ft above sea level. Many of the parks have picnic areas and some have trails. J.J.B. Benedict designed many of the pavilions and shelters in these parks, using native stone and timber to create a “mountain architecture” style that blends into the natural sites. Two shelters, one in Genesee Park and one in Dedisse Park, were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The Denver Mountain Park properties encompass a variety of habitats, including prairie, mountain meadow, riparian forests, montane (ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir) and subalpine (Engelmann spruce) forests, and alpine tundra. Bison herds were established in wildlife preserves at Genesee Park in 1914 and later in Daniels Park as part of an effort to recover this species extirpated from Colorado.

The Denver Mountain Parks were designated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990 and 1995 as a result of a multiple-property submission that included fourteen parks. Two of the highways originally built by Denver in 1912-1914, the Bear Creek Canyon Scenic Mountain Drive and the Lariat Trail Scenic Mountain Drive, were also included in that designation. These drives today are part of the Lariat Loop Scenic & Historic Byway.

List of Mountain Parks

• Bergen Park
• Bear Creek Canyon
• Beaver Brook Trail
• Bell Park
• Colorow Point Park
• Corwina Park
• Cub Creek & Dillon Park
• Daniels Park
• Dedisse Park
• Deer Creek Park
• Echo Lake Park
• Fillius Park
• Forsberg Park
• Genesee Park
• Katherine Craig Park
• Little Park
• Lookout Mountain Park
• Morrison Park
• Newton Park
• O'Fallon Park
• Pence Park
• Red Rocks Park
• Summit Lake Park
• Turkey Creek Park

General Sources

• 1918. No author. What the City has done in Five Years to Bring Wilderness Charm to the Masses. Municipal Facts (monthly). Vol. 1 No. 1. (and numerous other articles published in Municipal Facts 1912-1928)
• 1995. Denver Mountain Park System, multiple property submission to National Register of Historic Places.
• 2004. Noel, Thomas J. Sacred Stones: Colorado's Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. ISBN 0972953000 City & County of Denver, Division of Theatres & Arenas

External links

• Denver Mountain Parks at City of Denver website
• Denver Mountain Parks Association/Foundation
• Denver Mountain Parks History Pages
• Lariat Loop Scenic & Historic Byway