Lakewood Gulch drains a section of Lakewood

Lakewood, Colorado

Lakewood is a Home Rule Municipality that is the most populous city in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Lakewood is the fifth most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 172nd most populous city in the United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that in April 1, 2010...

 and west Denver, Colorado

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

 into the South Platte River

South Platte River

The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River and itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/Mountain West, located in the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska...

. It is the historic location of the old Interurban Shortline Railway and, in 2008, is a greenbelt

Green belt

A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...

 that includes Rude Park, Sanchez Park and Lakewood Gulch Park. The gulch passes through Lakewood from west to east before entering the Denver neighborhoods of Sun Valley

Sun Valley, Denver

Sun Valley is a central Denver neighborhood, bordered by I-25 on the east, Federal Blvd. on the west, 6th Avenue on the south and 20th Ave. on the north. It is located in the area known as West Denver.-Neighborhood characteristics:...

 and Villa Park

Villa Park, Denver

Villa Park is a neighborhood of Denver, Colorado.-Geography:The neighborhood is located in West Denver about two to three miles west of Downtown Denver...

. It contains a part of the route of the (current) heritage streetcar

Heritage streetcar

Heritage streetcars or heritage trams are a development of the heritage railways that are becoming popular across the world. As with modern streetcar systems, the vehicles are referred to as trams or tramcars in the United Kingdom, Australasia and certain other places , but as streetcars or...

 Platte Valley Trolley

Platte Valley Trolley

The Platte Valley Trolley is a heritage streetcar line in Denver, Colorado. It began service on July 4, 1989.-Route and operation:The trolley line begins where the REI has its Denver flagship store at Confluence Park, the historic location of the city of Denver at the confluence of the South...

 and the Denver sections of the creek have an adjacent bike path. According to the Jefferson County Colorado Place Names Directory, "Lakewood Gulch originates on the north east foot of Green Mountain in Lakewood, flows east through Sixth Avenue West Park and Red Rocks Community College and continues east through Lakewood into Denver, where it joins the South Platte River southwest of the intersection of I-25 and Colfax Avenue."

On May 16, 2007, a mother and her toddler got trapped in a flash flood of Lakewood Gulch when they attempted to escape hail in a small tunnel adjoining the creek as it travels under Decatur Street in Denver. The mother lost the grip of her toddler's stroller and the child was swept downstream where he was found dead a few miles away on the banks of the South Platte River

South Platte River

The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River and itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/Mountain West, located in the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska...

. The last half-mile of the creek, where the incident took place, is inside of a concrete lined channel known to occasionally flood. After the incident, the bike path adjoining the creek in this area has been permanently closed.

The FasTracks

FasTracks

FasTracks is a twelve-year, $6.5 billion public transportation expansion plan for the Denver-Aurora and Boulder metropolitan areas in Colorado, USA, developed by the Regional Transportation District...

West Corridor is currently under construction on the land adjoining Lakewood Gulch.