Bicycling & Jogging in Denver

The Denver Parks Department (720/913-0696. www.denvergov.org/parks) has suggestions for bicycling and jogging paths throughout the metropolitan area's 250 parks, including the popular Cherry Creek and Chatfield Reservoir State Recreation areas. With more than 400 mi of off-road paths in and around the city, cyclists can move easily between urban and rural settings.

Just south of downtown, the Bicycle Doctor/Edgeworks (860 Broadway, Golden Triangle. 303/831-7228. www.bicycledr.com) repairs street and mountain bikes, and rents them for $15 to $50 a day.

The well-kept Cherry Creek Bike Path (Cherry Creek, LoDo) runs from Cherry Creek Shopping Center to Larimer Square downtown alongside the peaceful creek of its name. The scenic Highline Canal (Auraria, Cherry Creek, LoDo) has 70 mi of mostly dirt paths through the metro area running at almost completely level grade. Platte River Greenway (Auraria, Cherry Creek and LoDo) is a 20-mi-long path for in-line skating, bicycling, and jogging that runs alongside Cherry Creek and the Platte River. Much of it runs through downtown Denver. There are 12 mi of paved paths along the South Platte River (Platte River valley, LoDo) heading into downtown. West of the city, paved paths wind through Matthews/Winters Park (South of I-70 on CO 26, Golden) near both Golden and Morrison. It's dotted with plaintive pioneer graves amid the sun-bleached grasses, thistle, and columbine. The Deer Creek Canyon (Littleton. www. co.jefferson.co.us/openspace) trail system is popular with mountain bikers, running through forested foothills southwest of Denver near the intersection of C-470 and Wadsworth Avenue.