Street artist Peter Miles Bergman highlights unsanctioned use of Lakewood Gulch

Lakewood Gulch, a trickling tributary in west Denver that feeds into the South Platte River, was once a pretty good place to disappear. The area was overgrown and full of as much concrete as it was weeds; many people used it for what street artist Peter Miles Bergman calls "unsanctioned...

By Melanie Asmar

June 5, 2012

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Lakewood Gulch, a trickling tributary in west Denver that feeds into the South Platte River, was once a pretty good place to disappear. The area was overgrown and full of as much concrete as it was weeds; many people used it for what street artist Peter Miles Bergman calls "unsanctioned use:: day drinking, urban camping, walking dogs off-leash.

Thanks in part to a new light-rail line that will run alongside the gulch, the area has gotten a makeover. But Bergman has observed that new biking paths and beautiful vegetation haven't completely eradicated illegal-ish activity in the area.

In order to "draw attention to unsanctioned use, facilitate it and be unsanctioned use at the same time," Bergman has resurrected a prank he first pulled in 2008 by installing fake trail markers designed to look like construction signs along a 3.3-mile route that follows the water from west Denver to Lakewood.

Read more about what Bergman calls the West Denver Urban Preserve and Trail in this post on the Latest Word.

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Melanie Asmar is a staff writer for Westword. She joined the paper in 2009 and has won awards for her stories about education, immigration and epic legal battles. Got a tip? She'd love to hear it.

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