Bear Creek Park Vision Plan

Overview

Photo of Bear Creek Park by Mark Upshaw

Photo Credit: Mark Upshaw


Project Scope:

This project is a collaborative planning process of approximately 90 acres of Bear Creek Park in far southwest Denver. This regional park contains many acres of natural landscapes, a portion of Bear Creek and Bear Creek Regional Trail, as well as Sombrero playground, picnic shelters, ballfields and a restroom building. The park is also home to the Southwest YMCA.  

The process involves community engagement at all phases to ensure community input is shaping the future vision of this park, resulting in a vision plan document and concept plan for park improvements which will be implemented in phases to make Bear Creek Park a resilient destination park. The Vision Plan for Bear Creek Park & Open Space was completed March 2023.

Download the Vision Plan(PDF, 68MB)


Community Outreach:

Phase 2 Engagement Summary

The second phase of community engagement for the Bear Creek Park Master Plan sought input on three alternative master plan concepts for the park. The community touch points included:

  • Two meetings of the Bear Creek Park Steering Committee
  • Three focus group meetings
  • A virtual community meeting
  • An online community survey

Download the phase 2 engagement summary.(PDF, 2MB)

Phase 1 Engagement Summary

The first phase of community engagement for the master plan sought to understand current conditions and the community vision and hopes for the park. The community touch points included:

  • The inaugural meeting of the Bear Creek Park Steering Committee
  • One virtual community meeting
  • One community survey

Please review the Public Engagement Phase 1 Summary Report and Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about what we heard from the community during phase one:

Public Meeting #1 | March 17, 2022

Denver Parks and Recreation hosted the first community public meeting to help neighbors learn about the project, meet the project team and provide initial input on the park's future.

Public Meeting #2 | July 21, 2022

At the second public meeting, three draft concept alternatives were presented:

Public Meeting #3 | Dec. 8, 2022

At the third public meeting, the project team shared the final master plan which was developed with community feedback over the course of the past year.

Bear Creek Trail Realignment

The goal of this project is to minimize potential conflicts between regional trail users and general park users. The existing trail will remain through the park and the new trail will be designed to meet the regional trail standard of a 12' wide concrete trail and 4' wide crusher fines path. The project will also include the replacement of the trail crossing over the Marston drainage on the east side and a new 16' wide bicycle and pedestrian bridge on the west side of the park. Additional amenities include trail lighting, wayfinding, and rest areas.

Download the project information sheet(PDF, 215KB)
Download the Bear Creek Trail site map(PDF, 15MB)


Project Timeline:

  • Summer 2024: Public Outreach
  • 2024-2026: Design
  • Fall 2026: Construction Start
  • Fall 2027: Project Complete

Community Engagement

Survey | August 10, 2024

Help Denver Parks and Recreation design the new picnic site at Bear Creek Park! Please take the survey and share with others. Closes August 10, 2024 (takes 5-10 minutes).

Survey in English


¡Ayuda a Denver Parks and Recreation a diseñar la nueva área de picnic del parque Bear Creek! Por favor tome la encuesta y compártala con sus vecinos. Cierra el 10 de mayo del 2024 (toma de 5 a 10 minutos).

Encuesta en Español

Picnic Area Addition 

As part of the first phase of 2023 Bear Creek Park Vision Plan(PDF, 68MB) implementation, this project will focus on improving picnic amenities by providing a new picnic area. The new picnic site will be outside of the floodplain and located closer to the northern entry parking lot with ADA walks. The site will be permittable with amenities such as large shelter, tables, benches, grills and programming for group recreation.

Download the project information sheet(PDF, 5MB)


Project Timeline

  • Summer 2024: Public Outreach
  • Summer 2024: Design Start
  • Spring 2025: Construction Start
  • Fall 2025: Project Complete

Community Engagement

Survey | August 10, 2024

Help Denver Parks and Recreation design the new picnic site at Bear Creek Park! Please take the survey and share with others. Closes August 10, 2024 (takes 5-10 minutes).

Survey in English


¡Ayuda a Denver Parks and Recreation a diseñar la nueva área de picnic del parque Bear Creek! Por favor tome la encuesta y compártala con sus vecinos. Cierra el 10 de mayo del 2024 (toma de 5 a 10 minutos).

Encuesta en Español