`Fall walkabout in Washington Park

Washington Park is looking fallish. On a recent stroll, I enjoyed fall perennials in flower, lake views, and turning trees.… Read More

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September 28, 2026

Denver’s Washington Park is looking fallish. On a recent stroll around Grasmere Lake, I enjoyed fall perennials still in flower…

…and trees turning rusty.

On closer inspection, however, the lindens looked more drought stressed than autumnal.

Biking by

Or maybe it’s a combo of drought stress and fall.

Those suffering lindens (please hang in there!) make a pretty frame for lake views.

This park is magical to me — an oasis in the middle of the city.

Big cottonwoods lean over historic Smith’s Ditch, which snakes through the park. It was Denver’s first irrigation canal, dug by plow between 1860 and 1867.

It ran 27 miles to bring water to the park, where an open section still flows today. I often see kids and dogs playing in it.

Tree-framed view of Wash Park’s boathouse on Smith Lake

The walk home

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