Sloan's Lake

Sloan's Lake is the West Denver neighborhood that runs from Sheridan Boulevard east to Federal Boulevard, and from 29th Avenue south to 17th Avenue. The city's official name for it drops the apostrophe, Sloan Lake, though you'll rarely hear anyone say it that way. West Highland is across 29th, West Colfax is to the south, and once you cross Sheridan you're in Edgewater, its own town in Jefferson County. The lake and its park take up a big share of the west side.

A lake with a disputed origin

As the popular story goes, in 1861 Thomas Sloan was digging a well to water his farm, hit an aquifer, and woke up to a lake. Historians doubt it. Sloan didn't get the land patent until 1866. He ran an ice house on the shore and sold the farm in 1872.

Manhattan Beach, an amusement park on the shore, lost its theater and observatory to a fire in 1908 and shut down for good in 1914. In the 1930s a Works Projects Administration job connected Sloan's with neighboring Cooper Lake, which gave you the 177-acre lake that's there now.

The houses, mostly built before 1960

Denver Assessor open data counts 1,958 detached houses here, not counting condos, rowhomes or apartments. About 44 percent went up before 1940 and 34 percent between 1940 and 1959. Only 9 percent are from 2000 on, and the median house is about 1,420 square feet. On the street, that means 1920s brick bungalows next to postwar houses, with modern new builds and apartment buildings from a recent construction boom filling in. If you want an original prewar house, you'll have plenty to choose from. If you're set on new construction, you're shopping in a much smaller slice.

On the east end of the lake, the 1926 school at 1820 Lowell Boulevard got the nickname "The Castle" for its Tudor and Moorish details. Merrill and Burnham Hoyt, brothers who grew up in Highlands, designed it. Just south of 17th, the old St. Anthony hospital site is now a condo tower and apartments, which belong to West Colfax.

The park, and what's being rebuilt

At about 290 acres, Sloan's Lake Park is second in size only to City Park, and the lake is the biggest body of water in Denver. A path circles the shore, and the park has tennis and basketball courts, a marina and fishing. Cormorants and herons live around the water, and an osprey platform went up on Penny Island in 2014. Each summer the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival fills the park for two days with more than 50 racing teams.

Expect construction for a while. The north tennis and basketball courts are being rebuilt, with completion set for fall 2027. The parking lot and basketball court near Sheridan and 17th closed in September 2026 while the maintenance yard in the southwest corner is renovated, with closures expected into early 2027. The old boathouse near Wolff Street and Byron Place is being designed as a community and event space connected to the marina. If you're looking at a house near the north courts, expect crews nearby until late 2027.

Biscuits, posole and Edgewater across Sheridan

The Denver side of the lake is almost all houses, so the places to eat sit on the edges. On 29th Avenue a half block from Sheridan, Rise & Shine Biscuit Kitchen & Café does biscuits and biscuit sandwiches for breakfast and lunch. Over on Federal at 23rd Avenue, the Yañez family's Chili Verde cooks Pueblan food from their mother's recipes, and 5280 singled out its posole. For a beer with a lake view or a pizza, most people walk across Sheridan into Edgewater, a separate small city with its own guide.

Getting around

Sheridan and Federal frame the west and east sides, and 17th Avenue runs along the south shore. RTD's Route 20 bus follows West 17th past the lake and on to Union Station. South of Colfax, the W Line's Sheridan station has parking, and the light rail runs 12.1 miles between Golden and Union Station.