Continuing my exploration of the areas around Midtown. Today’s bike ride took me east of Pecos. I was surprised to discover a large dam just southeast of the neighborhood, where a small irrigation ditch branches off. The Clear Creek Trail follows the Lower Clear Creek Canal, while the creekbed flows through a broad valley below. I’m surprised how much undeveloped land there is, and I wonder who owns it. If this were Littleton or Jeffco, it would be part of the open space or park district. But in Adams County… maybe it belongs to the trucking or gravel companies?
About ¾ mile west, the trail branches off to Twin Lakes, with the canal running between them. How did they get here? Built for water storage when this was farmland? I can’t help but think that they look rather bare. If this were Lakewood’s Bear Creek Greenbelt there would be picnic shelters & benches and horse trails through the willows & cottonwoods, (I did find later that Adams County does have improvements planned for the park.)
On the ride back to Midtown, I realized my frames of reference are from the southern suburbs, and the economy is different here. Midtown is among the first new neighborhoods to be built in southwest Adams County in 50 years. There’s a lot of potential, but what the future holds remains to be seen.
I think it’s worth betting on that bright future.