East Spring Creek Trail + Poudre River Trail = Family Bicycle Rides

Trail Map for East Spring Creek Trail and Poudre River Trail

East Spring Creek Trail and Poudre River Trails are public, paved bicycle trails in Fort Collins, Colorado that serve as a commuter trails to CSU and downtown Fort Collins. In addition, the trails provide safe, family bicycle access to Spring Park, Edora Park, Lee Martinez Park, and Lions Park. All of the aforementioned parks are dog friendly, public parks that include free parking and restrooms. The following blog post describes a fun, family bicycle ride from CSU to Lions Park via East Spring Creek and Poudre River trails. The following described bike ride was 11.5 miles one way and can be connected to streets that have bicycle lanes. Cell phone service was strong on the subsequent bike ride.

East Spring Creek Trail

East Spring Creek Trail is a 3.2 mile paved bicycle trail that runs west to east starting at the north end of the Mason Street trail and ending at the Poudre River trail. Check out the Mason Street trail for a similar family bike ride. We started from CSU by cycling south on Centre Ave, crossing Prospect Road, and then connecting to West Spring Creek trail. The following picture shows the intersection of Mason Street trail, East Spring Creek trail, and West Spring Creek trail.
Cycling east, Spring Park is the first park you come upon (see below).
Edora Park is the next park/playground that is adjacent to East Spring Creek trail and can be seen in the following picture.
Shortly after passing Edora Park, you pass the Epic BMX track and a skate park on the opposite side of the trail.

Poudre River Trail

The Poudre River trail is a paved bicycle trail that is 8.3 miles from East Spring Creek trail to Lions Park. There is very little shade on the Poudre River trail so heat and time of day are important considerations.
Cycling northwest, the Poudre River Trail pops up onto a sidewalk where you need to make a u-turn to continue on the trail. Specifically, ride up the bike path, take a hard left, and ride against traffic on the sidewalk (not normal bike riding protocol). The sidewalk will keep you on Poudre River bicycle trail which eventually switches back to seclusion from traffic.
Lee Martinez Park is the next playground destination and is located just off the Poudre River trail. In addition to a playground, Lee Martinez Park includes tennis courts, basketball courts, a BBQ pavilion, restrooms, and water.
The Poudre River trail becomes more scenic heading west from Lee Martinez Park because local foothills mountains come into closer view. What's more, the following section of trail includes a dirt path adjacent to the paved trail. The dirt path provides an opportunity for runners to run on a trail separate from the cyclists and on a surface that is easier on joints.
The Poudre River trail crosses Taft Hill road. Taft Hill road has bike lanes so it provides an opportunity to head south without having to double back on the Poudre River trail to East Spring Creek trail.
The Poudre River trail continues northwest by crossing to the north side of the Poudre River via a bridge.
We concluded our bike ride at Lions Park (seen below). We saw several fisherman fly fishing in the Poudre River at Lions Park. From here, we road back east on the Poudre River trail and took Taft Hill road south to our residence.
In sum, the East Spring Creek and Poudre River trails offer many fun, family bicycle opportunities because the trails are flat and there are many parks located adjacent to the trails. Specifically, Spring Park, Edora Park, Lee Martinez Park, and Lions Park can all serve as fun destinations for kids because they include playgrounds, water, and restrooms.