When you’re ready to step up from just getting around campus to getting around faster
Engineering students have most if not all their classes in the Engineering Center, but most majors aren’t that lucky. Students, especially those in the College of Arts & Sciences, can have class on one side of campus and their next class on the opposite side, with only 10 minutes to get there. But these campus shortcuts will help you get to class on time.
1. The Kittredge-to- Koelbel Thoroughfare
If you’re a freshman business student living in isolated Kittredge Complex, then you’ll use this one a lot. Instead of walking by the Coors Event Center or using the Regent Drive underpass, just go over the hill and through the woods to get from the Kittredge residence halls to classes at the Leeds School of Business in the Koelbel building. There are a couple of well-worn trails on the hillside facing Regent Drive that connect the observatory parking lot to Regent Drive, but it gets muddy when it rains or snows.
Saves about 739 feet of walking.
2. The Stairway to Heaven
This shortcut is the main thoroughfare from parking and housing near the Boulder Creek Path and the rest of campus. Let’s say you parked on 19th Street and need to get to your class in Clare Small. You can trek west to 17th Street, going past Sewall Hall, but there’s a better way. Walking toward the creek path down 19th Street, cross the Boulder Creek Path and walk toward an outdoor fire pit. You’ll see a series of steep stone stairs with a metal handrail winding up the backside of the hill to the Recreation Center.
Saves about a half mile of walking.
3. The Dal- Ward Hill Passage
If you have a parking pass for Lot 169, then you can walk east to Folsom Street to get to central campus, but it’d probably be faster just to walk up through this shortcut. Walking the paved sidewalk from Dal Ward Athletic Facility to the Football Practice Fields can help you get to Muenzinger, Norlin and anywhere on central campus. Walk toward the creek and you’ll see a steep asphalt sidewalk after the bridge. But take the wood stairs to the left because golf carts carrying orange Gatorade coolers whip down this hill during practice time in the fall.
4. The ATLAS-VAC Underground Highway
This indoor shortcut comes in handy on those days in Boulder when it’s warm and sunny in the morning, but decides to dump inches of snow that afternoon. The bridge between ATLAS and the Visual Arts Complex is in plain sight, but many students don’t know that there’s a tunnel in the basement that connects the two buildings. It’s great if you have classes in both buildings, or for making your way to the UMC via the warmest way possible.
Saves about 105 feet of walking.
5. The Carlson Gym Corridor
Students aren’t allowed to sneak into Balch Fieldhouse when track and crosscountry athletes swipe their cards to enter their practice facility, but Carlson Gym next door is open, and cutting through helps students get from Buffalo Plaza to Lot 169 or anything on the north side of the creek. You must follow the sidewalk past Balch Fieldhouse and toward the Recreation Center, but you veer right on the sidewalk when you pass the Sports Information Office. The door has a keypad to open, but if it’s flashing green, it’s open. Walk straight, past the staircase and out the door on the other side.
Saves about 369 feet of walking.
6. Walk through buildings, not around them
This may be a no-brainer, but many large campus buildings have doors on multiple sides, making it easier — and shorter — to walk through them rather than all the way around them.
Examples include the UMC, Regent Administrative Center and Cristol Chemistry and Biochemistry.
