The Huntsman Trailhead opened to the public on Friday, Nov. 6, adding a new 1.5-mile stretch to the Clear Creek Trail in Jefferson County’s Clear Creek Canyon Park. The county says the 10-foot-wide, ADA-accessible route includes four bridges and five new creek access points. The trail runs west from the CCR Trailhead to Huntsman, where visitors will also find expanded parking, restrooms and a shaded gathering area, according to Jefferson County Parks & Open Space and The Denver Post. The Post also reported that a dirt loop and a picnic area beside the creek are part of the site.
The opening adds another piece to a trail being built in stages, rather than completing the canyon route. The first park sections opened in 2016 and 2017, adding four miles of paved trail, according to county project materials. A 1.75-mile Gateway extension followed in 2021, and a separate 1.5-mile stretch at CCR opened in November 2025, according to The Denver Post and the Jeffco Transcript. Huntsman now extends that route farther into the canyon.
The larger connection is still unfinished
Jefferson County’s stated long-term goal is a trail connection from Denver’s South Platte Trail to the headwaters of Clear Creek near Loveland Pass, according to its project materials. A June 2026 Clear Creek County status report said Jefferson County Open Space staff reported about $21.6 million in state and regional grants; combined with county open-space funding, those resources were expected to support about two miles of construction. The same report said Jefferson County did not yet have enough resources to complete the connection to the Big Easy Trailhead, and staff considered completion most likely sometime in the 2030s. Those figures describe the broader project, not a change to the newly opened Huntsman segment, according to the Clear Creek County Board of County Commissioners’ status report.
The status report also said construction of Clear Creek Trail sections on Clear Creek County-owned land was on hold because that county lacked matching funds. That is a separate project in a different jurisdiction from Jefferson County’s Huntsman work. The report’s funding and schedule details underscore that the regional route depends on multiple phases and funding sources; they do not set a completion date for the whole trail.
