Huntsman Trailhead Opens This November, About a Mile Short of Where the Canyon Trail Will Pause

About three miles west of Tunnel 1, Jefferson County's own trails crew set a staircase of boulders into the south bank of Clear Creek by hand. Three workers used a rock hoist and grip tools to push and pull each boulder into place. The steps lead up to a soft-surface path, the path leads to a rustic suspension bridge, and the bridge leads to a flat creekside spot called Ray's Landing. In a construction update Jeffco Parks & Open Space posted on October 12, the project's construction manager called it "the end of the line for the Huntsman segment."

The Huntsman segment is scheduled to open in November 2026. Once it does, Jeffco Open Space plans to build one more mile of canyon trail and then pause indefinitely. For the foreseeable future, Golden's canyon trail will end within about a mile of this trailhead, and the county built the Huntsman end to work as a destination.

What the Canyon Trail Adds Up to in November

The paved trail up Clear Creek Canyon has been built in pieces since 2021. Each new section added a trailhead and pushed the turnaround farther upstream. Here is the lower canyon as of late October:

The Denver Post reported in March that the trail reached 3.25 miles up the canyon after the CCR segment opened. Huntsman brings it to 4.75 miles. The CCR name comes from the Colorado Central Railroad, a narrow-gauge line that ran through the canyon from 1872 to 1941. US 6 opened on its raised grade in 1952.

The new segment adds four bridges and six creek-access points, according to a September 1 project update from Muller Engineering, the lead design firm. Concrete Express is the contractor, and Jeffco Open Space owns the project. The 67-space figure for the parking lot comes from that same September update. In March, The Denver Post had reported more than 70 spaces, so the count may still change before opening day.

The opening date has slipped twice this year. In March, The Denver Post expected the segment to open in late summer. Muller's September update said October. Jeffco's October video says November and gives a month without a day.

"We're close to opening. We're going to open this November 2026. It's been a long road to get here." Scott Grossman, Clear Creek Canyon Park project manager, in Jeffco's October construction update

Grossman said grant writing for the project started about seven years ago, design about six years ago, and construction about four years ago. The Denver Post put the cost of the CCR and Huntsman segments together at $80 million. Jeffco Open Space paid most of it, with support from Great Outdoors Colorado and the Denver Regional Council of Governments.

Why the Building Stops After One More Mile

The long-range plan for the Peaks to Plains Trail is a 65-mile route along Clear Creek. It would run from the South Platte River through Wheat Ridge, Golden, Idaho Springs and Georgetown to the creek's headwaters on Loveland Pass. Up the canyon, about four miles of trail have been open since 2016 and 2017. In December 2025, The Denver Gazette reported that about six miles would remain to be built beyond the Huntsman's Rancho extension, and that money for those miles had not been found. PLAN Jeffco's project timeline calls that stretch the Central segment and puts it between Huntsman and the Big Easy Trailhead.

Jeffco's budget discussion this year shows how much of that gap will be built soon. PLAN Jeffco is a citizen group that tracks the Open Space program. Its September 2026 newsletter summarized the advisory board's review of the 2026 budget recommendation. According to that summary, sales tax revenue has been flat and isn't expected to change soon, so the program has to prioritize spending. The finishing of the Clear Creek Trail got extended discussion. After Huntsman opens, one more mile will be built, followed by an indefinite pause. The same newsletter lists the next piece, the Central Segment, as in design with a completion date of "TBD."

Going by the Gazette's six-mile figure, that one extra mile would still leave about five miles of canyon without trail between the paved lower section and Big Easy. That gap would stay open for as long as the pause lasts. In practice, the trail from Golden will end within about a mile of the Huntsman Trailhead for years, and Huntsman is the last trailhead now scheduled.

How Jeffco Built an End Worth Staying At

The Huntsman segment's soft-surface loop gives the trailhead a reason to stay. The October video walks it in this order:

1. The boulder steps. Jeffco's internal trails team placed them by hand. They climb from the main concrete trail to the south side of the creek.
2. The Scenic Wonders Trail. This is the soft-surface loop on the south bank, built as an extra route alongside the paved main trail.
3. The Lively Hollows suspension bridge. Jeffco calls it the first bridge of its kind in its system, a rustic design the construction manager compared to an Indiana Jones bridge.
4. Ray's Landing. A picnic spot with fishing and creek access. The construction manager expects it to be "a really, really popular spot on a hot summer day."
5. The Promising Prospects Bridge. The longest suspension bridge on the loop, which connects the Scenic Wonders Trail to Ray's Landing. It's similar to the suspension bridge near Tunnel 1 on the Welch Ditch Trail, but longer and higher above the water.
6. The Brazen Bovine Bridge. This crossing brings the loop back to the Huntsman Trailhead, where a restroom was under construction in early October.

The paved trail lower in the canyon was designed with the same idea. The Denver Post described the surface as rust-tinted concrete, 10 feet wide and ADA compliant, with a maximum grade of 5%. The bridges have small porches so people can stop for the view without blocking traffic. The canyon walls along the route rise about 1,000 feet. Bicycles aren't allowed on US 6 in the canyon, so this trail is the only way to ride a bike up it.

Reaching the New End in Winter

A November opening means the first visits will be in cold weather. Last March, a storm dropped 4 to 6 inches of snow on the trail, and Jeffco Open Space plowed it the next morning. Spokesman Matt Robbins told The Denver Post the county "will do every time it snows." The creek-access spots and the soft-surface loop are a separate question. Plowing was described for the paved trail.

A few practical points for the first trips:

• Hours. According to Visit Golden's Clear Creek Canyon Park listing, the trail is open from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. Electronic gates enforce the no-overnight-parking rule, so the short daylight in November and December limits how late you can stay at the lot.
• Parking choices. Besides Gateway, CCR and the new Huntsman lot, Visit Golden lists parking at Tunnel 1, Big Easy and Mayhem Gulch.
• US 6 work. CDOT's corridor page warns of daytime single-lane closures and occasional overnight full closures of the canyon for Huntsman construction through fall 2026. It's worth checking before driving to an upper trailhead.
• Leaving the car at home. In town, the paved Clear Creek Trail runs along 10th Street from Ford Street to the 6th Avenue bridge and connects to the 6th Avenue Trail and the Greater Clear Creek Trail. The Gateway segment continues from Golden toward Tunnel 1. You can start the canyon from downtown on foot or by bike.

Doing the whole 4.75 miles from the canyon mouth, plus the Scenic Wonders loop, makes a long out-and-back. It's an easy outing on a summer weekend but a lot to fit into a December afternoon. Parking at the Huntsman lot puts the loop, Ray's Landing and both suspension bridges a short walk from the car. That's what this end of the trail offers that the earlier turnarounds didn't.

As a Golden-based advisor, I keep track of the trailheads and parks that shape weekends here, and I'm glad to talk about which parts of Golden put the canyon closest to your door. When you'd like a local's perspective, Don Preisser is happy to help. Let's Connect.