Where Is Indian Creek?

Perhaps the only people in Denver who know where Indian Creek is might be the folks who live there or service there. Everyone else probably scratches their head and asks, “”Where?”

Tucked into a little corner of Denver between Quebec St and Quebec Way, jumping Cherry Creek and sitting just south of Florida Ave, is a cute little neighborhood full of condos and paired homes. On one side is the Cherry Creek Trail, and on the other is the High Line Canal Trail. It’s a perfectly safe neighborhood to wander. There’s even a dog park with a partial agility track and a trip to India!

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Why is it called Indian Creek? No one is quite sure, but it could be reference to the tribes who lived along the Cherry Creek.

A Sister City Park!

The best feature in Indian Creek is its Sister City Park, City of Chennai Park. What does Indian Creek have in common with Chennai in Southeast India? Prairie dogs! Once the two shared history with large prairie dog populations. Prairie dogs, mammals that scurry underground eating roots and blossoms, play a big part in the ecosystems of the prairie. Sadly, though, Indian Creek hasn’t seen a prairie dog in a long time.

Dog Park!

But it has seen dogs! In a neighborhood of paired homes, condos, and apartments, the dogs need a place to go. Fortunately for them, squeezed into the middle of the neighborhood is a small dog park with a tiny agility track. What a nice treat for the local pups!

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Cherry Creek Runs on One Side

Although the Cherry Creek Trail itself is on the opposite side of the creek from the neighborhood and getting to the Trail can be a wetted adventure, several social trails duck down to the creek for a quick urban get-a-way. There’s evidence of some makeshift bridges to cross Cherry Creek, but you’ll need a day where the creek runs low to cross the bridges.

1980s Redux

The dominate architectural style of Indian Creek smacks dead in the 80s. Variance showed up occasionally with a slightly different trim color or a different design texture, but the facades remained basically the same. None the less, Indian Creek offers a nice, quick, easy walk in a cozy neighborhood. If you need to stretch your legs and maybe let Fido try a jump or two, Indian Creek is the perfect place for an urban hike.

 

The route (click for interactive map):

Start at City of Chennai Park, where the closet address is 7590 E Iowa Av. After looking at the information, walk east to E Iowa St. Take a left on S Roslyn St, turning right as it turns into E Gunnison Place.

Take a left on S Syracuse St. Take a right on E Florida Ave and then a left on S Quebec Way.

Continue down Quebec Way, passing a titch through Arapahoe County at the Dog Park until you get to E Colorado Ave, and take a right. Follow Colorado to its end at Cherry Creek. If you’re adventurous, follow the dirt trails to Cherry Creek and attempt to cross Cherry Creek. If you’re successful, take a right on Cherry Creek Trail. Follow that to Florida, take a right and then take a right on Iowa, returning back to your start.

Or, if you decide not to cross Cherry Creek and to stay on the path of the map above, take a look at Cherry Creek. Then return to Colorado Ave, take a left on S Trenton St. Take a left on Iowa, returning you back to your start after a brief 2-mile urban hike.

Trails and A Dog Park in Indian Creek and Supporting Denver By Foot

If you’ve enjoyed this info about the High Line Canal Trail and how to hike it, maybe you’ll enjoy some other walks curated by Denver By Foot. Get the 52 Hikes 52 Weeks Denver Calendar, which recommends a hike a week, subscribe to the YouTube Channel to hear about weekly hiking suggestions in Denver, and buy access to the Denver By Foot Challenge. The Challenge is 30 activities in Denver to do by foot where you’ll uncover treasures throughout Denver. It’s a great thing to do with friends and family, or even along during our lock down.

Finally, please support Denver By Foot by purchasing Chris Englert’s books, The Best Urban Hikes: Denver and Discovering Denver Parks. Thank you so much!

What did you like about this walk? Post it on Facebook and tag your posts with #denverbyfoot so I can find them.

See you on the trail!

~Chris