Enjoy Full-Length St. Vrain Greenway While You Can

For the first time in nearly six years, the St. Vrain Greenway in Longmont is completely open for it's full length from Golden Ponds (west) to Sandstone Ranch (east).  

Over the years, I've expressed my disappointment for the protracted Greenway closure in the central part of town, to City Council.  Reasons I've been given include delays by BNSF, the initial bids for the Boston Avenue Bridge rebuild were too high, the pandemic, and delays from the Feds (FEMA and Army Corps of Engineers).  On the other hand, I've praised the work (completed in 2018)  the City did for the Greenway rebuild at Sandstone, including the new bridge addition and reroute, and the new routing west of Main by the Dickens Farm Nature Area was well done. 

Unfortunately, the full Greenway opening will be short-lived.   The section from Boston Avenue to Sunset Street by the Isaak Walton Clubhouse is scheduled to be closed "Spring 2025" (does this mean May or June?)  and finished Fall 2026.  So, at least another 1.5 years of closure and there is another section of work to be done in the future.  Of interest is a bike lane and temporary sidewalk coming this summer along a portion of Boston Avenue for the detour (see below).  If you know Boston Avenue, it is poorly drained with sand and large water pools after a rain covering much of its shoulder, and it is also full of debris from industrial traffic. It has never been a usable detour especially for families or anyone on foot.   I'm very interested to see if the City comes through on this commitment and maintains the bike lane.

I'll go ahead and post the schedule here and we'll see if the Fall 2026 completion milestone is met:

On a Sunday Easter afternoon, I got out on the Greenway before it is closed again.  

The previous BNSF railroad bridge was identified as a major pinch point in water flow during the 2013 flood.   Here's the new one but did it really take four years to build?

 

Here's a few pictures of the segment to be closed soon.  The dirt surface was temporary after the flood but nobody complains about it.  

And looking east from near the Isaak Walton Clubhouse:

 Get out there while you can. 

Longmont Veterans Day Parade 2024

Veterans Day this year was on a Monday and it was a nice morning in Longmont.  In the past, the parade had been held on Saturdays so that more can attend but it seems in the last 5 to 10 years that it has been faithful to the actual day.  Regardless, the parade always starts at 11:11 AM and there was a flyover around 11:30.  

 

 Longmont High School Marching Band:

Lyons High School Marching Band

 Replica of USS Destroyer Escort 406.  Read the story here:

Niwot High School Marching Band:

Mead High School Marching Band:

Erie High School Marching Band:

Silver Creek High School Marching Band:

Skyline High School Marching Band:

Frederick High School Marching Band:

Highlandlake Revisted in 2024

Highlandlake (yes, that is the correct spelling) is a small community outside of Mead, Colorado.  It was last visited here way back in 2008 and as mentioned, it was a summer getaway area for Longmont via buggy-rides, starting in the 1870s.  (As expected after 16 years, most of the links in that article are dead, more on that later).  

The surrounding area was a private fishing camp in 2008.  In 2016, the Town of Mead purchased the recreational rights to the lake and built a park there (Lorin Mead Park).  It's a fishing, picnicking, and low-impact boating destination only; no swimming allowed due to unknown water quality.  The water in the lake is owned and used by the oil and gas industry.  

The excellent and well-crafted Historic Highlandlake website historichighlandlake.org from 2008 looks like it has transitioned to a slightly renamed site.

Lorin Mead Park today:

The water level of the lake will vary over the year, depending on usage by it's owner:

 

Despite changes at the lake, the historic church across the street remains constant and well-maintained:

If you're interested in learning more about this community, in 2013 a book was published on the Highlandlake and Mead area:

Memorial Day 2024

 

Memorial Day Longmont 2019

From today's speaker at the Memorial Day observance at Mountain View Cemetary

"Memorial Day is more than the flags waving at a sale, at the car dealership"  

Edward Whipp U.S. Soldier.  Captioning in case  he shows up in a genealogy search

Five Years since the Flood of 2013 in Longmont

Can't believe it's been five years since the Flood of 2013 hit Longmont.  I was evacuated but luckily suffered no damage.  A few blocks over from where I lived was a different story.

Here's a video I took of Missouri Avenue on Friday morning, September 13, 2013:

For those reading this from far away, Longmont is still recovering from the flood.  The St. Vrain Greenway, for example, is still not open on portions east of Main Street.  Just a month ago, the most eastward portion to Sandstone Ranch was re-opened.

Some of my Flood-related stories, mostly from the Southmoor Park neighborhood:

• Left Hand Creek in Longmont and the Rain Storm.  This was the first day of the rain but it didn't stop.

• One More Round of Flood Pictures

• Kanemoto Park Pool is All Gone Now
• Splash Pad Replacement for Kanemoto Park Pool?
• Open House for St. Vrain Greenway Planning 
• Pike Road Underpass Open Again
• Kanemoto Park Bridge
• Kanemoto Park Bridge Update 
• Missouri Avenue Pedestrian Bridge Open Again 
• Kanemoto Park Pool Appears Near Completion
• Missouri Avenue in Longmont:   Pre and Post-Restoration
• New Kanemoto Park Pool Opens Today
• St. Vrain Greenway East of Main
• Revisiting St. Vrain Green to Sandstone Ranch after 4.8 years 

My local streets were a steady parade of construction vehicles for almost two years, as the park and bridge next to me were reconstructed. 

What a lot of people will forget is that the flood could have been a lot worse along Left Hand Creek.  The City undertook a channel re-widening project two years earlier in 2011 (with federal funding), including a new box culvert and bridge at South Pratt Parkway and Missouri Avenue.  Most will agree that this work saved a lot of houses from being underwater but this is now mostly forgotten.

Revisiting St. Vrain Greenway to Sandstone Park after 4.8 years

Longmont's St. Vrain Greenway recently re-opened all the way east to Sandstone Ranch, after being closed for 4.8 years due to damage from the 2013 flood.  Finally got back out there on the bike today to check it out. 

Before the flood, the Greenway to Sandstone was a popular bike ride and hike, especially on weekends. But it's been fenced off first at County Road 1 right after the flood and then in 2015, it was extended 1/2 mile east of CR1 for a few more years.

This was the the previous eastern-most point.  The gate was closed and you can still see the leftover "No Trespassing" sign.   Gate is open now!

  
The wetland marsh still exists north of the Greenway as you go toward Sandstone:

The powerful 2013 flood created a new channel of the St. Vrain river out here.  It was decided by the engineers and planners just to leave it as nature carved it out in the flood vs. trying to put the river back in it's pre-2013 shape.  One reason I heard at a city open house was that wildlife had already adopted the new wetlands created by the river split.  A new double-bridge was added over the new channel, kind of hard to see in this picture:

The smaller 2009 bridge remains over the original flow of the river as you cross into Sandstone Ranch:

I saw some wild turkeys after crossing the bridge into the park:

The cliffs at Sandstone:

I was glad to see my old favorite gravel road still there, going in front of the cliffs to the east and then up the hill.  It's in rougher shape than I remember it with lots of loose sand.   I wouldn't try it on skinny bike tires:

The view from the lookout point situated on top of the cliffs:

Hard to believe it's been over 1768 days since I've been able to ride the Greenway to Sandstone.  Very glad it's back.