On a weekday, the first R Line train out of RidgeGate Parkway Station leaves at 5:15 a.m. It stops at Lone Tree City Center at 5:17, Sky Ridge at 5:19 and Lincoln at 5:22, then heads up through Aurora and reaches Peoria Station at 6:14. Before this summer, Lincoln was where the R Line ended.
That change has quietly reordered Lone Tree's stations. The stop at the far south end, across from Schweiger Ranch, is now the one with the most going for it.
What Changed on June 7
RTD's June 7, 2026 service change extended the R Line south from Lincoln Station to three more stops: Sky Ridge, Lone Tree City Center and RidgeGate Parkway. The same change cut R Line daytime waits from 30 minutes to 15. That frequency runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
The next service change, effective September 27, still lists the R Line as running Peoria to RidgeGate Parkway. The only change to it was a one-minute schedule adjustment to line up with the T Line. That makes the extension how the R Line runs this fall.
What the R Line adds is a new direction. The E Line was already running north toward downtown. The R Line bends east into Aurora, and from any Lone Tree stop you now ride without transferring to Aurora Metro Center, 2nd & Abilene, 13th Avenue, Colfax, Fitzsimons and Peoria. RTD says the line serves Aurora City Center, the Anschutz Medical Campus and the Fitzsimons Life Science District, and it connects to the A Line for Denver International Airport. On the current timetable, RidgeGate Parkway to Aurora Metro Center takes about 40 minutes and Fitzsimons about 54.
Five Stations, Only Two With Park-n-Rides
The city's transportation page lists five light-rail stations serving Lone Tree. That's one more than most people count, because it includes County Line, which the city labels as the stop for Park Meadows Retail Resort. The R Line stops there too. The bigger difference between stations is parking.
| Station | RTD parking | What sits closest |
|---|---|---|
| County Line | Not covered in this research | Park Meadows, per the city |
| Lincoln | 1,734 paid spaces at 10203 Station Way | Mostly a park-and-ride stop |
| Sky Ridge | None | Sky Ridge hospital; Lone Tree Arts Center is a 15 to 20 minute walk |
| Lone Tree City Center | None | Lone Tree's planned downtown, still being built |
| RidgeGate Parkway | 1,300 paid spaces | Schweiger Ranch, directly across from the platform |
Parking works the same way at both paid lots. If your vehicle is registered inside the RTD district, the first 24 hours are free, and each additional 24 hours costs $2. Out-of-district vehicles pay $4 per 24 hours. You have to pay before you board, the spaces are only for transit riders, and they go first come, first served. A standard three-hour local pass costs $2.75, or $1.35 at the discounted rate. Riders 19 and under ride free with an accepted ID or an RTD youth card.
Sky Ridge and City Center have no parking, so you either walk to them or get dropped off. The Arts Center points visitors arriving at Sky Ridge to the free Link On Demand pickup, an app-booked shared ride. Link runs Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Fridays from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. There is no Sunday service. That gap matters for Sunday matinees.
Why the South End Comes Out Ahead
Put the table together with the June change, and RidgeGate Parkway is the only Lone Tree station that has all of these:
- Both the E and the R Line, with the R starting its northbound run right there
- A park-n-Ride with 1,300 spaces
- A destination you can walk to across the street. The city's event directions say E and R trains drop riders directly across from Schweiger Ranch. The city also lists both RidgeGate Parkway and the ranch as access points for the East/West Regional Trail.
Lincoln has more parking, but no official source names a destination there that's a reliably short walk. Sky Ridge and City Center can be walked to but have nowhere to leave a car. RidgeGate Parkway works for drivers, walkers and trail users. Because the R now starts there, riders boarding at RidgeGate get on a train that is just beginning its run.
More is coming near the south end. Happy Canyon Trail is under construction to link the East/West Trail, Schweiger Ranch and the future High Note Park. The city and South Suburban Parks and Recreation broke ground on High Note Park on April 29, 2026, and Phase One is expected to open in 2027. Plans for that phase include fields, a playground, a dog park and a 200-seat beer garden that Lone Tree Brewing Company is expected to run.
Going Downtown Is Still an E Line Trip Until Spring
The R Line covers Aurora, but trips to downtown Denver still run on the E. The current E Line timetable goes directly from the Lone Tree stations to Union Station, stopping at I-25 & Broadway, Alameda, 10th & Osage, Auraria West, Empower Field and Ball Arena along the way. Broncos and Nuggets fans get there without a transfer.
The rest of downtown is harder to reach by rail. RTD's Downtown Rail Reconstruction Project has suspended the D, H and L lines. It is doing station work at 16th & Stout, 18th & Stout, 16th & California and 18th & California. Colfax at Auraria has no rail service during the work, and Auraria West stays open for the C, E and W lines. If you're headed into the Downtown Loop, RTD says to ride to Union Station and switch to the 16th Street FreeRide, which runs about every three minutes.
RTD expects this phase to wrap up by the end of the first quarter of 2027. The September notice also lays out what comes after. The C Line will be permanently reinstated, the D Line permanently discontinued, and the L Line stays suspended until the project is done. The R Line was added in June as part of the reconstruction service plan, so it's worth checking RTD's first 2027 service change to see whether it keeps running to RidgeGate.
A Fall and Holiday Calendar, Organized by Stop
Lone Tree Arts Center is in its 15th-anniversary main-stage season. Use Sky Ridge for the Arts Center and RidgeGate Parkway for the ranch.
- October 8–25, Sky Ridge: Always…Patsy Cline at the Arts Center.
- October 31, Sky Ridge: The 1931 Frankenstein, screened with live accompaniment by the Lone Tree Symphony Orchestra.
- November 13, 14, 20 and 29, Sky Ridge: Time for Three, Ali Stroker, Stephen Wilkes, and Suzy Bogguss's holiday show.
- December 4, Sky Ridge: The city's Merry Days Holiday Tree Lighting at the Arts Center, 6 p.m.
- December 5, RidgeGate Parkway: Austrian Christmas at Schweiger Ranch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's free, and no registration is required. That date comes from the ranch's own event page. The city's Merry Days page says December 6, so check before you go.
- December 2–23, Sky Ridge: Kalani Pe'a on December 2, Phamaly's holiday program on December 8, The Swingles on December 10, Motones vs. Jerseys: Holiday Hi-Fi December 16 to 20, and A Muppet Christmas Carol on December 23.
Plan around evening curtain times. The 15-minute R Line service ends at 6 p.m., so look up the actual departure in RTD's Next Ride app before you leave.
What's Still Under Construction Near the Tracks
The station that will tie Lone Tree's rail and highway transit together isn't open yet. The Sky Ridge at Lone Tree Station Mobility Hub at I-25 and Lincoln Avenue will add Bustang stops on both sides of the interstate and a pedestrian and bicycle bridge between them. CDOT lists its timeline as May 2025 to early 2027 and says the hub will connect Bustang riders with RTD light rail and Lone Tree Link. Until then, expect narrowed I-25 lanes, a single-lane northbound Lincoln off-ramp, and pedestrian detours around the work zone.
Up at the County Line end, Earls Kitchen & Bar at 8335 Park Meadows Center Drive was on Westword's list of July closures. Thirsty Lion plans to open its second Colorado restaurant at that address in December. The freestanding 7,900-square-foot restaurant will be near the mall's main entrance, across from P.F. Chang's and Seasons 52. It will seat 278, including a shaded patio with a fireplace, though no exact opening date has been announced. In East Village, the King Soopers-anchored Lone Tree Village Center is forecast to open in early 2027.
How close you live to a station is part of how a Lone Tree home works day to day. That includes whether the nearest stop has parking, which lines it serves, and what you can walk to from the platform. If you're curious how that factors into what your home is worth, Lynn Marie Baxter would be glad to put together a free home valuation that accounts for those details.
