Nancy and I ventured out on our next bike ride along the High Line Canal. As I mentioned in my previous posts, we attempt to ride approximately 20 miles each time.
On our last ride, we slightly overshot our “turn around” location, so we marked our map with the spot where we stopped in order to start there this week.
We were both dragging on Sunday evening and our comedy of errors before our planned start time of 6pm didn’t help matters. First, Nancy drove off without her bike. As a result, she was late to our meeting place, the Bataleur Club House.
Additionally, the community known as the Preserve where the club house is has locked gates installed at all access points to the High Line Canal Trail. Consequently, we had to load our bikes back on our cars and drive to the Orchard Road Trailhead, the location where we should have turned around last week.
Finally, ready to start our ride, we really only had time for one hour instead of two. Therefore, we road miles 30-37 (both directions) and ended at the mega church just south of Hampden and Colorado. This span covers segments 12 and 13 and one mile of segment 14. As with most of our previous ride, these sections of trail are made of crushed gravel.
Segment 12 of the High Line Canal
Segment 12 basically travels 2.75 through Marjorie Perry Nature Preserve and is known for some of the best Front Range wildlife watching. Seeing as how we were riding through this area for the second time and in the late evening, I’d hoped to spot a coyote or something. Luck would not have it, but the Nature Preserve which includes two walking trails through a large grassy meadow with three ponds is very peaceful.
The Marjorie Perry Nature Preserve as well as the Preserve subdivision were created upon Marjorie’s death in 1969. Marjorie was an active horseback rider and skier. She used to ride here and also rode her horse to Steamboat Springs, Colorado where she began the town’s Winter Carnival in 1914. The Winter Carnival features horse and ski races down Steamboat’s main street.
She was also influential in bringing ski jumping to Colorado and was inducted into the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1988.
Segment 13 of the High Line Canal
Continuing through the “Wooded Village” portion of the High Line Canal, Segment 13 led us through an open space called Blackmer Common, past Kent Denver School and Quincy Farm, and ended at Three Pond Park. This 2.5 mile section of the canal was mostly lined with large houses and intermittent open spaces.
Upon completing these two sections, we have now reached the halfway mark in the High Line Canal Trail. We carried on an additional mile to the mega church near Hampden and Colorado as this is a handy parking area to access the trail for our next ride. To be continued…ETB
Other Articles You May Like About the High Line Canal
- The High Line Canal: Segments 2 and 3
- The High Line Canal: Segments 4-7
- The High Line Canal: Segments 8-11
For more maps and books on the High Line Canal visit the High Line Canal Conservancy website.
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