Douglas County recently finished a trailhead and trail connection at the south end of Daniels Park — the large, scenic park a few miles west of Castle Pines — with more improvements in store.
The work was finished this spring after Castle Pines residents asked for a safer way to get to the 1,000-acre site managed by Denver Parks and Recreation as part of its mountain parks system.
Castle Pines Mayor Jeff Huff said that previously, residents who were walking, running or bicycling made their way along the shoulder of the narrow Daniels Park Road.
“It’s a beautiful area, and we’d like to see it maintained,” Huff said. “I think the improvements that Denver and Douglas County have planned for the area are going to be very well received by all the people who use and frequent the area.”
He said he himself has used the park for picnics, and it is frequently used for photo opportunities because of the scenic views of the Front Range and Rocky Mountains, from Long’s Peak to Pikes Peak.
The new trailhead and trail, and the creation of a roundabout at the intersection of Daniels Park Road and Castle Pines Parkway, were part of the first round of improvements Douglas County and Denver agreed on in 2008. Phase one was entirely funded by Douglas County, which spent about $130,000 on the trailhead and trail connection.
Future work includes potential improvements to the picnic areas and bison viewing areas that would require money from both partners, according to Matt Williams, development review supervisor for Douglas County and project manager for the Daniels Park Trailhead.
Improving the bison viewing will be important because it’s considered the highlight of the park, said Matt Brown, operations supervisor for Daniels Park with Denver Parks and Recreation.
“Bison are part of the American West, and when people come to Colorado or come to Denver, and if they’d like to see a bison, that’s what we can provide for them,” Brown said. “We provide a natural look at bison as they would’ve roamed the plains almost 200 years ago.”
The bison herd — which consists of 20 adult breeding cows, two breeding bulls, two calves and five new calves born this year — is one of two along the Front Range, the other herd being at Genesee Park in Jefferson County, another of the Denver Mountain Parks.
“It keeps our breeding program healthy by allowing us to have two different blood lines,” Brown said, adding that Denver Parks and Recreation is set to begin a cattle genetics project.
Sally White, a historian of the mountain parks system, said Daniels Park is the second largest Denver Mountain Park, behind Genesee. The first 40 acres was donated by Florence Martin in 1920, with the remainder donated in 1937, a year before the buffalo herd was established. Martin named the park after friend Maj. William Cook Daniels, who served as a partner in the Daniels & Fisher department stores in Denver.
The park features a memorial for the last reported campfire of Kit Carson, stone structures built by Jacques Benedict that White said are a signature of the mountain parks, and a meeting place for the Tall Bull Memorial Council, a group of American Indians who perform ceremonies.
W. Bart Berger, chairman of the Denver Mountain Parks Foundation, said Daniels Park is part of a system unparalleled in the United States.
He added: “That preservation of open space in Douglas County is a magnificent legacy of the relationship that Denver and the surrounding counties have.”
Clayton Woullard: 303-954-2953, cwoullard@denverpost.com or
Daniels park
What: 1,000-acre historic ranch, part of the Denver Mountain Parks system
When: Land donated in 1920 and 1937
Where: Go south on I-25 to exit 188 (Castle Pines Parkway), then west to Daniels Park Road. Turn right (north) and travel 2 miles through the park. Or go south on Santa Fe Drive through Sedalia and turn left onto Daniels Park Road.
