Explore Erie: four places in walking order

Erie sits on the Weld–Boulder county line north-east of Boulder, about twenty minutes from it by Arapahoe Road or Colorado 7 and about thirty-five from Denver. Historic downtown is the grid along Briggs Street between Cheesman and Moffat, west to Holbrook, with Coal Creek and its park a block to the east. Leave the car at Coal Creek Park on Kattell Street: the Town lists a parking lot with EV charging and limited street parking, and everything on this page is a few blocks from it.

01 · Coal Creek Park and the creek trail

The 6.5-acre park at 575 Kattell Street is where downtown Erie keeps its playground (the butterfly-shaped Maddie’s Playground), a splash pad from Memorial Day weekend to mid-September, 9 am–7 pm, and an ice rink from early December to late February. Brewfest and the Parade of Lights happen here. The Coal Creek Trail passes the park on its way north to south: 4.73 miles of concrete with crusher-fines beside it, plus soft-surface sections, through the Town’s 400 acres of open space, open daily from sunrise to sunset with dogs on leash. Walk a stretch north toward Reliance Park or south toward Erie Parkway and come back; the full corridor, the trailheads and the singletrack at Sunset Open Space are in the trails guide, and are a separate day.

Getting there: the park lot on Kattell Street. Best for: a flat half hour on concrete before the shops open; children, strollers and dogs.

02 · Town Hall and the miners’ memorial

Walk west across Briggs to Holbrook Street. Erie Town Hall is the 1906 Lincoln School, a two-story brick schoolhouse that taught Erie’s children until 1966 and has been the Town’s offices since 1998. On its lawn is the Coal Miners’ Memorial, dedicated in 2000, with a bronze miner and the names of more than 500 men who worked the Erie and Northern Coalfield mines. This is where the historic downtown walking tour starts: a self-guided route on the PocketSights app past more than a dozen sites, among them the 1889 Davis building that now holds the Old Mine and the 1930 City Hall with its bell tower. Town Hall itself is open Monday to Friday, 8 am–5 pm; the lawn and the memorial are outside.

Getting there: on foot from the park, a few blocks west. Best for: the coal-town story in one block; Erie’s history has the longer version.

03 · Briggs Street

Back on Briggs, the block runs from Cellar West’s century-old house at the south end to Echo’s former fire station at the north. FOX•DOG Coffee at the corner of Briggs and Moffat is open 7 am–4 pm every day, with burritos, quiche and enough seating to sit a while. In the same 515 Briggs building is CyclErie, the community bike shop (Tuesday to Saturday 10–6, Sunday 11–3, closed Monday), and in the 615 Briggs building Briggs Street Books and Music, the bookshop and record store that opened in 2025. Sweets Ice Cream at 502 Briggs, next door to the Old Mine, scoops from 3 pm Monday to Thursday and from noon Friday to Sunday.

Getting there: on foot; the block is short. Best for: coffee, a book and a cone; the Eat & Drink page says who is open right now.

04 · Lunch or dinner on the block

Three Briggs Street kitchens are the ones people name, and all three are closed on Mondays. 24 Carrot Bistro at 578 Briggs does lunch Tuesday to Friday from 11, brunch at weekends from 9, and dinner from 4:30 pm. Birdhouse at 526 Briggs serves tacos and ramen from 4 pm on weekdays and from 11:30 am Friday to Sunday. The Old Mine in the 1889 Davis building opens at 4 pm Tuesday to Thursday and at 11 am Friday to Sunday, with cider, pizza and trivia on Tuesday evenings.

On a Monday, use the others. Piripi at 615 Briggs serves tapas Monday to Saturday from 11 am (Sunday from 4 pm). Lucile’s Creole Cafe at 544 Briggs is breakfast and lunch only, weekdays 7 am–2 pm, weekends 8 am–2 pm, with a weekend line that the weekday avoids. Echo Brewing & Pizzeria at the north end opens at 4 pm Monday to Thursday and from 11 am at weekends, with a biergarten out back. Cellar West Brewery at the south end is closed Monday and Tuesday; Wednesday to Friday it opens in the afternoon, and at weekends from noon. A block off Briggs on Wells Street, Erie Social Club pours wine and whiskey from 4 pm Tuesday to Saturday and 1–5 pm on Sunday, closed Monday.

Getting there: on foot; every one of these is on or a block off Briggs. Best for: a meal that ends the walk where the car is.

A simple first visit

1. Park at Coal Creek Park on Kattell Street.
2. Walk a stretch of the Coal Creek Trail and come back.
3. Cross to Holbrook Street for Town Hall and the miners’ memorial.
4. Browse Briggs Street: coffee, the bookshop, the bike shop.
5. Eat on the block, checking the day of the week first.

Getting here

Drive times are estimates for normal conditions and vary with traffic, weather and construction; check a live routing service before you set out. From Boulder it is about twenty minutes by Arapahoe Road or Colorado 7, and from Denver about thirty-five. County Line Road is the boundary between Boulder and Weld counties; Briggs Street and the park are in the Town of Erie either way, and the Town’s rules apply. No bus service is claimed here, because no official timetable has been read for it.

Accessibility: what we can confirm

The Town’s Coal Creek Park page lists a parking lot, a permanent restroom open 6 am–10 pm from March 15 to November 15, and two ADA-accessible tables in the east shelter. The Coal Creek Trail is a concrete path for most of its length, and the Town plows it by its parking lots when snow is deeper than two inches between October and May.

The Briggs Street storefronts and Town Hall have not been checked on the ground for step-free entrances, and no claim is made about them; contact a business directly before relying on it. Designated accessible parking downtown and curb ramps at the cross streets have not been confirmed either. Corrections and additions to this section are welcome and published with their date.