Clouds and Stars

This smaller park is a neighborhood gem. It has 9-​hole golf course, fitness center, walking path and an outdoor pool. It is not the kind of park with hibachi grills or picnic shelters which translates to more privacy, less noise and a refreshing degree of charm. The pool is small yet never seems over crowded. Lots of trees and foliage throughout the park offer nice cover for private walks with your special one (or special two, three.?). Many people run with their dogs throughout the park but I have never stepped in anything. Bravo dog owners!

I am grateful for Harvard Gulch Park and its perfect placement in the center of most places I need to be.
On a gloomy day last summer, the clouds looked as though they could explode with all the moisture they held inside. I felt a similar feeling — except it wasn’t moisture (no, I didn’t have to pee) — it was frustration and I needed release immediately. Without a destination in mind, I tied my trusty sneakers’ laces, left Boyfriend’s house, and jogged north on Logan. A couple miles later, with rain finally dropping from the sky, I crossed the street and found myself at the southwest corner of Harvard Gulch Park. Intrigued and encouraged to run more, I turned onto the trail to explore this new find. I ran next to: green grass that adorned a couple of knolls and also plenty of flat space where a picnic blanket or several could go, a playground, a chapter of CSU, a police station, a rec center, a golf course, a small baseball diamond, some beautiful and/​or interesting homes surrounding… this park has more than meets the eye. I was surprised to find so many aspects to its personality when it initially appeared to be so small. It is spacious, yet intimate, with its hidden corners behind trees (during a 9pm run, I once heard a probably young couple — ahem — enjoying the intimacy I speak of not so far from the paved trail).
Anyway, it’s a nice little park, for a nice little run (or a long run if you wish run several times around it, otherwise the surrounding neighborhood is just as nice to run through). Rain or shine, Harvard Gulch has been there for me during many necessary occasions which required me to reap the benefits that running provides.

Even though the paths could use some repaving, this is my fav park to ride a bike through. Shady and cool. Also, I think every park should have an outdoor pool.

A nice, quiet park. Lots of space for picnics and a nice playground for the kiddies. The swimming pool has neither diving boards nor water slides, but is really inexpensive and was relatively ucrowded on the day I was there. You can jog around the perimeter of the park, but the path is entirely concrete or asphalt. There is a small golf course, which I have heard is really great for kids and beginners.

Harvard Gulch park rules. It’s way better than Wash Park. It’s got an outdoor pool, it’s got a 9-​hole par-​3 golf course that in the summer time they light up with glow sticks so that you can golf at night. Plus, it’s got a rec center and it’s where all of the Denver police hang out. And I think they do some SWAT or combat training there. So sometimes you get to see these cool cocaine and dynamite-​sniffing German Shepards. It’s not all that crowded. It’s 1.2 miles if you follow the path around the perimeter of the park.