Float on with Venice on the Creek's summer boat rides
Venice on the Creek doesn’t technically take its passengers along Cherry Creek in gondolas. The boats are British punts. So when the organization began offering downtown float trips in 1996, the rides were called “Punt the Creek.” In football-crazed Denver, that meant only one thing—a summer camp for kickers. Today, the name more closely conveys the experience: trips past downtown scenery with bonus history vignettes...and candlelight excursions full of romance.
Rides are held each year from mid-June through mid-August on Fridays and Saturdays from 5:30-9:30 p.m., with boats launching every 10 to 15 minutes. Passengers can begin their trip at Confluence Park or at Creekfront Plaza, off of 14th and Larimer streets. The flat-bottom punts are 23 feet long and three feet wide, and most trips last 40 to 45 minutes.
Venice on the Creek is managed by The Greenway Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing Denver metro's waterways. During each trip, boat guides talk about how the city of Denver began along the banks of Cherry Creek, and how the waters have evolved over the years. Each night at 8 p.m., excursions take on a more romantic tone as darkness falls and lanterns on the boat cast a soft glow. Pricing for each trip is based on a boat rental rather than individual tickets, so couples have the option to have the vehicle to themselves and request a quiet ride.
Manager Jolon Clark is justifiably proud of his fleet of punts, some handmade in Denver, as well as the locks-and-dams system that enables the relaxing, enlightening boat trips. “Technically a gondola is rowed and a punt is pushed,” he says. A paddle on the end of a long pole enables the guide to push, pull and steer the flat-bottomed vehicle in water that may be only three inches deep. “The five dams and four boat locks are the smallest system in the world and the only boat locks on a creek," Clark says. "We’re run by a nonprofit organization, so we constructed it with the least environmental impact.”
Cherry Creek's two flood channels can swell to 12 feet with a big rainstorm or consecutive days of heavy showers, so be sure to call prior to your scheduled launch time to make sure the boats are afloat. It's never a whitewater experience, just a calm trip along the creek. “It’s an intimate feeling, one of a kind,” says Clark.
The punts are guided by students participating in the Greenway Foundation’s 10-week youth employment program, dedicated to developing leadership skills and certification in environmental education. “They get the skills to further their job search, degrees and experience on a resume. It opens up pathways to populations not traditionally involved in environmental education,” says Clark.
HelloDenver Tip: Passengers who want a more romantic experience can save money with an advance reservation just before the candlelight trips begin. Clark says, “You can get in for the less expensive price right at sunset, and the floating is awesome around 7:30 to 7:40. There’s a magic, evening feel.”
Posted by Lisa Perry
