Denver Opens Carpio-Sanguinette Park & Heron Pond Open Space

Denver Opens Carpio-Sanguinette Park & Heron Pond Open Space

Published on September 28, 2026

This past Saturday, Mayor Mike Johnston, Denver Parks & Recreation (DPR), the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI), Councilmember Darrell Watson and the community, celebrated the opening of Denver's newest regional park. Carpio-Sanguinette Park & Heron Pond Open Space has been restored and enhanced with park amenities, new trees, landscaping, stormwater infrastructure improvements and more. The new 80-acre nature park in Denver's Globeville neighborhood reclaims former industrial land along the South Platte River for recreation, community gathering, habitat, and stormwater management.

"It is extremely rare that a city as developed as Denver adds a park of this size," said Mayor Mike Johnston. "Rarer still is one that so beautifully reflects the community it serves, and that fought so hard to make it a reality. It's a shining gem of Denver and one that Globeville will be able to enjoy for generations."

Globeville community members gathered to celebrate the new chapter for a park shaped by decades of industrial use and contamination. More than three decades after environmental cleanup began in 1994, and now Carpio-Sanguinette Park and Heron Pond Open Spaces creates new opportunities for residents to experience nature close to home while strengthening connections between Globeville and the South Platte River.

"Globeville, Elyria, and Swansea (GES) residents have consistently advocated for more investment in their neighborhoods and more green space", said Councilman Darrell Watson. "This park represents meaningful progress toward that goal and was directly shaped by GES neighbors. Carpio-Sanguinette Park and Heron Pond Open Space gives families a place to gather, play and connect with nature while restoring land along the South Platte River for the entire community".

What began as a project to treat stormwater runoff, turned into a completely new regional park for this neighborhood. Denver-based landscape architecture firm Dig Studio, along with Wilson and Co Engineering, supported Denver Parks and Recreation and the community in the park's vision and design. The design responds to the complexity of the site by bringing environmental cleanup, stormwater management, habitat and public recreation together, rather than treating them as separate systems.

The 80-acre park combines the Heron Pond Natural Area, the former Northside Park (renamed to Carpio-Sanguinette Park) and adjoining City properties into a connected landscape designed around both ecological health and everyday neighborhood use. Once fragmented and largely inaccessible, the site now includes trails, overlooks, restored habitat, a regional playground, pavilion, and pump track, along with a 15-acre stormwater system that helps improve water quality by treating runoff from over 700 acres of surrounding land before it reaches the South Platte River.

Wetlands, river-edge landscapes and upland prairie provide habitat for birds, pollinators and other wildlife while supporting healthier soils and helping reduce urban heat. Trails and interpretive elements bring visitors closer to those systems and create opportunities to understand how water quality, habitat and recreation can work together within the same landscape.

"Carpio-Sanguinette is a perfect example of a park that can serve many needs at once, giving people the chance to spend time outdoors while restoring natural systems and strengthening connections to the river," said DPR Executive Director Jolon Clark. "The outcome reflects years of collaboration with Globeville residents and project partners to create a place that responds to both the landscape and the community it serves."

As the largest natural area within the Denver Parks system, Heron Pond demonstrates how land once defined by industry can take on a new role in neighborhood life, supporting habitat and water quality while giving residents more places to walk, play, gather and experience the South Platte River.

Total funding for the project was $44M for vision plan, design and construction from DPR's Park Legacy Fund, DOTI wastewater enterprise funds, and several grants including GOCO, CDPHE, CO Health Foundation, CPW, and Adams County Open Space.

Denver Parks & Recreation
As stewards of a legacy park system, Denver Parks and Recreation (DPR) is dedicated to customer service and enhancing the health of residents and the environment through innovative programs and safe, beautiful, and sustainable places. The DPR system includes 30 recreation centers and over 20,000 acres of urban and mountain parkland including off-street trails, parkways, and natural areas.

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