Sloan's Lake's Busiest Fall Weekends Arrive Just as the Southwest Parking Lot Closes

Six events fill the Sloan's Lake calendar between October 3 and October 24. All of them are on the south side of the park, along the 1500 and 1600 blocks of North Raleigh Street and the shore near West 17th Avenue. Denver Parks and Recreation scheduled the parking lot and basketball court near Sheridan Boulevard and 17th Avenue to close in September 2026, with closures expected to last into early 2027. So the fall calendar and the first stage of a long rebuild are using the same stretch of shoreline.

The south shore is also where the park's bigger changes are planned. The calendar below lays out the month, and the sections after it explain how the work underway and the work proposed affect it.

The October Calendar, South Shore Only

The opening weekend is the busiest of the month. On Saturday, October 3, the Fall BAZAAR runs from noon to 6 p.m. Entry is free, and local makers bring seasonal and holiday-ready goods. The ticketed extras are a YogaSix outdoor class at 11 a.m. and bottomless mimosas from noon to 2 p.m. The Grace Race 5K starts at 4 p.m., so for the last two hours of the market there is a race going on a few blocks away. On Sunday the Raleigh Street site switches to West Colfax Lucha Libre, with wrestling, makers, food and drinks from 2 to 6 p.m.

Denver Dog Days follows on October 10 near Utica and 17th. The organizer promotes a dog costume contest and lists the event as free. Stoney's evening pumpkin carve on October 16 includes pumpkin beers and a stein-hoisting contest. MonsterDash ends the month on October 24 with a post-race carnival and expo.

None of these event pages shows a publish date, so check times and registration with each organizer before you go.

The Corner Where the Work Starts

The Grace Race uses the park's 1700 N. Sheridan Blvd. address but sets up its start and finish by the restrooms at 17th Avenue and Utica Street, and its directions send drivers east on 17th to Utica and into the parking lot there. The closure is farther west. The city's schedule had the parking lot and basketball court near Sheridan Boulevard and 17th Avenue closing in September 2026 so the building at that intersection can be converted into a maintenance facility, part of a renovation of the maintenance yard and shop in the park's southwest corner.

The city's project page says part of the trail will also close later in construction and asks visitors to follow the signed detours. The page does not give a date for the trail closure. On any given Saturday this fall, the southwest corner may look different from the week before, and it will stay that way until early 2027.

If you usually park at Sheridan and 17th, plan on a different approach this fall. Grace Race directions point to the lot off Utica, and MonsterDash lists its packet pickup at 4600 W. 17th Ave. Neither race page mentions the southwest closure.

The north side of the park is under construction too. The tennis and basketball courts there are being replaced with RISE Denver Bond and Parks capital funds. The schedule shows construction starting in Winter 2026 and finishing in Fall 2027. Courts on both the north and southwest sides of the park will be affected for much of the coming year.

The Raleigh Street Block Lost a Tenant the Week Before

Three addresses on this month's calendar are within about one block of each other on North Raleigh Street. The BAZAAR and Lucha Libre are at 1611, Stoney's is at 1565, and 1525 was home to Natuur.

Natuur, a Denver smoothie-and-bowl chain, closed its Sloan's Lake shop at 1525 N. Raleigh St. on Friday, September 26. Its Highland location on West 32nd Avenue was scheduled to close two days later. Westword noted that the chain's two Texas locations had closed months earlier. "Getting to serve Denver and be a small part of your days has meant more to us than we can say," the company wrote on Instagram.

That makes October the first month without Natuur on that block, during the busiest weekends of the fall. No replacement tenant had been reported by the end of September.

What the Lake Itself Is Waiting For

The events take place on the lakeshore, but the lake is the long-term issue. The city describes Sloan's Lake as historically 8 to 12 feet deep. Decades of stormwater sediment have brought it down to about 2.5 to 3 feet. Shallow water heats up faster. After several days near 100 degrees in July 2024, a toxic algae bloom killed more than 2,000 carp and crappie, and a similar die-off happened in 2020. The park gets about 2 million visits a year around its 2.6-mile perimeter.

On September 2, the Mayor's Office proposed a $50 million project. It would remove sediment, deepen the lake, try to limit future sediment buildup and restore the shoreline. Here is where the money would come from:

• Up to $40 million from the St. Anthony Urban Redevelopment Area. That district was created in 2013, after the former St. Anthony Central Hospital moved to Lakewood.
• $5 million from the Vibrant Denver Bond.
• $5 million from the city's wastewater fund.

That first item ties the plan to the neighborhood. The redevelopment that replaced the hospital along West 17th Avenue would pay for most of the work on the lake next to it. The city says the funding will not raise taxes or affect its budget.

"Today, we are ensuring this remains a jewel of North Denver for the next seven generations." Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval, in the city's announcement

The plan has not been approved yet. It needs approval from both the Denver Urban Renewal Authority board and Denver City Council. The Colorado Sun expected the DURA board to take it up at its September 14 meeting. The Denver Post reported that Council would consider it after DURA approval. As of the end of September, the coverage reviewed for this post had not confirmed the outcome of either step.

Coverage on announcement day also gave two different timelines. The Colorado Sun said Denver aims to finish permitting in 2027 and start work in 2028. The Denver Post said construction could begin in 2027, with design and construction taking about two and a half years. Both outlets agree that this fall's calendar happens before any dredging begins.

Denver Parks director Jolon Clark has said the lake will not be drained. Some sections may be separated during the work. The longer-term goal is safe paddling and boating, not swimming. Denverite reported that the work is expected to take 30 months once it starts, and that Clark intends to keep the park as open and usable as possible while crews work in the lake. The Denver Gazette also reported that the public would keep park access during the project.

The project could affect at least one event. Denverite noted that the shallow water has made it hard for Colorado Dragon Boat Festival crews to find routes across the lake. This year's festival took place August 29 and 30. Published coverage has not said how construction would affect future festivals.

This proposal is separate from the work the city already has underway. Denver's environmental assessment page describes a phased water-quality effort funded with $5 million in bond money, covering bank stabilization, wetlands and sediment capture. The page says the current phase does not include significant sediment removal. If you see shoreline crews this fall, they are not doing the $50 million dredging project.

The Next Thing on the Shore

The boathouse is next on the city's list. In June, The Denver Post reported that Denver was seeking concessionaire proposals for a food-and-drink pavilion at the boathouse, with a projected opening in spring 2028. No operator had been named in that report. Until then, this October's events are the main reason to spend time on the south shore. That includes a market at 1611 Raleigh, a pumpkin carve at Stoney's and two races, all on the same shore as a corner the city expects to keep closed into early 2027.

If you own a home near the lake and want to know how the maintenance-yard closure, the court rebuilds and a possible 30-month restoration fit into your plans for the next few years, Antoinette Bradley follows each of these projects as they move forward. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll go over what the timeline means for your street.