Rocky Mountain Greenway Trail

The dedication ceremony for the new Standley Lake Dam took place on Sept. 7, 1911. A special Colorado and Southern train transported dignitaries, together with several hundred citizens, from Denver’s Union Station to the site. Among them were U.S. Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson, Colorado District Court Judge George Allen (in place of Governor John Shafroth, who was unable to attend), Wyoming Governor Joseph Carey, State Engineer Charles Comstock, President of the State Land Commission Edward Keating and Denver Chamber of Commerce President Charles Johnson. Also present was Arthur Day, receiver for Banque Franco-Americaine and the Denver Reservoir and Irrigation Company, along with contractor William Kenefick and engineer William Rosecrans.

After stepping off the train at the construction camp below the dam, the crowd ascended the massive earthen wall on foot. One reporter with the Denver Daily News (Sept. 8, 1911) described the view: “On top, the almost dry bottom of the lake spread out like a huge amphitheater. Clumps of trees in the bottom, from one to two miles distant, appeared like bushes, and out in the heart of the big hole a group of farm buildings rested peacefully where 100 feet of water will be reposing in a year or two.” A small but growing lake in the bottom of the reservoir looked to the reporter like a tiny frog pond from atop the dam wall. The beautiful and imposing setting elicited gasps from the visitors, many of whom had never seen the site before.

Once the tour was finished, the crowd descended to the dining room at the construction camp, where they were treated to a meal. Afterward, they gathered before a flatbed rail car, decorated with bunting, at the foot of the dam to hear speeches made by the dignitaries. Above them, a long line of American flags placed at equal distances along the top of the massive dam wall fluttered in the breeze. Milton Smith provided the assemblage with a history of the project and introduced the crowd to Joseph Standley and Senator Thomas Croke, who were sitting nearby in an automobile. The lake would be named in honor of Standley, the driving force behind the project during its several years of development (this decision had already been made by 1908 as the reservoir was in its planning stage). The crowd treated the three originators of the Standley Lake project to an enthusiastic round of cheers and applause.

Today, the old rail section through the park is now a walkable trail, the Rocky Mountain Greenway Trail. In 2012, Colorado Governor Hickenlooper and Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar formed a steering committee to oversee the development of a trail that would someday connect Denver area communities to the high peaks of the Rocky Mountains. They would call it the Rocky Mountain Greenway. But the initial vision for the trail was not just about connecting two points on a map; it was about connecting people to those places and to all of the amazing natural places in between. The Rocky Mountain Greenway would be used to enhance existing community trail systems, close gaps in regional trail connections and provide new ways to access the natural recreation and interpretive resources of the Front Range. When complete, the Rocky Mountain Greenway will form an 80-mile continuous trail, passing through more than 10 municipal jurisdictions, six counties, and four federal land areas.