The High Line Canal Trail is a 71-mile cottonwood corridor for walking and riding

A separate note explains that living near the High Line Canal does not give you a right to its water. This note is about the other side of the canal: the trail.

The High Line Canal corridor runs 71 miles in a long, slow arc from Waterton Canyon, southwest of the metro, to northeast Denver. A soft trail follows the canal under old, tall cottonwood trees, and it passes through Cherry Hills Village, Greenwood Village, Littleton, Centennial, Aurora, and a piece of Denver. Because it follows a gentle canal grade, it stays nearly flat, which makes it friendly for walking, easy cycling, and in many stretches horseback riding.

What makes it unusual is how it weaves through everyday places. The trail slips behind neighborhoods, along parks, past golf courses, and under busy roads, giving a thin ribbon of shade and birdsong inside a city. Arapahoe County helps steward a large share of it, and the corridor has been shifting toward permanent open-space protection rather than its old life as a full irrigation ditch.

A few practical notes: it is a shared trail, so expect walkers, riders, and dogs; some segments are paved and some are soft surface; and access points and parking are spread along its length rather than at one main entrance.

For maps, trailheads, and current work on the corridor, check Arapahoe County Open Spaces.