Fast Facts
- Confluence Park covers 4 acres connected to a 42-acre greenway and park system.
- A 2009 study found that more than 170,000 Denver residents were active enough in parks and other outdoor spaces to reduce their combined healthcare costs by an estimated $65 million.
- Every federal dollar spent on the park leveraged more than $2,000 in local public and private funds.
Confluence Park is the birthplace of Denver and lies at the meeting place of two rivers where prospectors once searched for gold in the mid-1800s. Once an industrial dumping ground, Confluence Park and the South Platte River Corridor are now the premier outdoor recreation destination and educational resource for the city of Denver. The park’s numerous accessible activities provide profound health benefits to nearby residents and employees as well as visitors to the city.
With its central location in downtown Denver and connections to many residential neighborhoods via a connecting greenway, Confluence Park provides a convenient location for outdoor physical activity. The park features a canoe and kayak launch site and encourages walking, running, and cycling through the greenway and the connecting park system. It is not uncommon to spot someone fishing for the popular trout that have been restored to the river. As the area has become increasingly attractive to development, several additions have been made over the years, including a plaza with public seating and access to a growing selection of retail stores nearby.
$1.2 million of federal Land & Water Conservation grants for the South Platte River galvanized over $2.5 billion in local public and private funding, an investment that has revitalized Denver’s downtown and continues to drive economic development and job creation.
