Pedal boats are back at City Park in Denver this week and they come in more shapes than just swans.

On Wednesday, the city of Denver opened its newest so-called Adventure Hub where visitors can rent gear to enjoy on Ferril Lake. That includes pedal boats shaped like swans, dragons, ducks and flamingos, as well as kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddleboards. If you’d rather pedal on land instead of the water, the hub also has beach cruiser bikes and surrey bikes, which hold up to six people, available for rent.

City Park’s Adventure Hub is the second to open this year, following another at Washington Park in early June. Stephanie Figueroa, spokesperson for Denver Parks and Recreation, said rentals were supposed to start sooner at City Park, but that the electricity powering the point-of-sale system needed to be replaced after a fire at the historic bandshell there.

Water sport rentals cost range from $15 per hour for a SUP or single-person kayak to $35 per hour for swan, dragon and duck pedal boats, which fit up to four people. Bikes are similarly priced at $15 per hour for a single-person beach cruiser up to $45 per hour for a surrey “stretch limousine” for six riders. Figueroa noted that it is a flat fee and not a per-person charge.

“For families, as long as you fit, you can go,” she said, adding that gear is available for rent during the City Park Jazz series this summer.

This year marks the first time in at least two decades that Denver officials have managed gear rentals in City Park. The city ended its longtime contract with vendor Wheel Fun Rentals, which previously supplied things like swan pedal boats, in early 2026 after more than 20 years, Figueroa said.

Downtown Denver’s 16th Street FreeRide service is a staple. In fact, more than 2 million people hop on every year. Now, the service could be in jeopardy as RTD tries to figure out ways to fix its $200 million budget deficit. 

“The demand for the FreeRide is at the highest level it’s been since the pandemic, and it’s the cheapest service that we run in terms of per passenger cost,” RTD board member Chris Nicholson said. 

Nicholson was shocked when staff made budget suggestions that would end the FreeRide service, one of the highest ridership lines in the system. 

Not to mention, 70% of RTD’s budget comes from sales tax, and downtown Denver is one of the biggest economic engines in the district.

“We are so caught up in the conversation about cuts across the entire region that that opportunity for conversation with the downtown community really didn’t get the chance to happen, and a lot of people were surprised to see that in there,” Nicholson added.

For him, the proposal is personal. Nicholson says he uses the service daily. 

“When I need to go up to Union Station, when I need to go to meet somebody for coffee, when I need to get groceries,” Nicholson said. 

CBS Colorado took a trip using FreeRide to hear from passengers. 

“Gone out drinking, out eating, back and forth from the hotels,” said one passenger visiting downtown for a work conference. “So yeah, it’s been useful for that.”

While some riders use it for leisure, others say they depend on it. 

“I use it for transportation to Union Station to get to and from doctor’s appointments to and from work is actually one of the reasons why I chose to live downtown,” downtown resident Jovelle Brown said. 

And with millions of riders, the numbers speak for themselves.

“I’ll be at City Hall fighting against the proposal,” Brown added.

“We need to look at this from the perspective of the communities we operate in, and I think that those communities made their voices heard on this one,” Nicholson said. 

A spokesperson for Mayor Mike Johnston’s office told CBS Colorado, “We are deeply sympathetic to RTD’s budget situation, but cutting a popular service used hundreds of thousands of times a month and millions of times a year isn’t the answer. As RTD itself noted recently, the 16th Street FreeRide is vital to supporting downtown and fills a crucial need in helping people navigate between Civic Center Station and Union Station at no cost. It’s the kind of thing we need more of if we want people to use public transportation, not less. 

“We know RTD shares in our affection for this service as well as our belief that Denverites and visitors alike deserve cost-efficient and safe public transportation, and we look forward to working together as this process unfolds.”

Denver police arrested two boys on suspicion of first-degree murder after detectives said they shot and killed a 33-year-old man in Sunnyside.

Investigators believe Christopher Nabors confronted the boys, who are 12 and 14 years old, after he found them either breaking into or trying to steal his vehicle in the 4300 block of North Pecos Street on June 30.

The boys, who have not been publicly identified because they are juveniles, were arrested by Denver Police Department officers on July 1 after police spotted them in a stolen vehicle and they fled when officers tried to pull them over.

Denver police also accused the 14-year-old of being involved with a shooting about 15 minutes before the Sunnyside shooting, when the teen and two other juveniles shot a fourth juvenile near Park Avenue and East 20th Avenue. The juvenile victim was injured but survived, agency officials said.

Detectives are still investigating a homicide that happened under the same circumstances in the 15000 block of East Olmsted Drive in the early hours of June 24.