Outdoors · Boulder
Share Boulder, CO parks, trails & bike paths
About 27% of Boulder is conserved land, roughly 4,820 acres. There are about 92 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in National Center for Atmospheric Research (6.1 mi), Harlow Platts Community Park (1.7 mi), and Chautauqua Park (0.9 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Boulder, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Share Boulder outdoors
Conserved land
27%
4,820 of 17,802 acres
Trails
92 mi
3.3 mi per sq mi · 60 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
54
45 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
192.2 mi
53.3 mi lanes · 87.3 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
🏖️ Unnamed beach 🏊 Lap Pool 🏊 Leisure Pool 🏊 Leisure Pool 🛝 Arrowwood Park 🛝 Child Play Area 🛝 Crestview Playground 🛝 Keewaydin Meadows Playground 🛝 Sleepy Bear Playground 🛝 Splash Pad 🛝 Tantra Park 🛝 The Bounce Place 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground in Bill Bower Park 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground in Shanahan Ridge Park 🛝 Unnamed playground in Harlow Platts Community Park 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground in Martin Park 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground in East Boulder Community Park 🛝 Unnamed playground in Eben G. Fine Park 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground in North Boulder Park 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground in Melody Park 🛝 Unnamed playground in Beach Park 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground in Barker Park 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground in Pine View Park 🛝 Unnamed playground in Salberg Center and Park 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🛝 Unnamed playground 🐕 East Boulder Dog Park 🐕 Foothills Community Dog Park 🐕 Foothills Community Dog Park 🐕 HSBV Agility Yard 🐕 HSBV Play Yard 🐕 Valmont Dog Park 🐕 Unnamed dog park 🐕 Unnamed dog park 🐕 Unnamed dog park 🐕 Unnamed dog park in Howard Hueston Park 🛶 Unnamed boat launch 🛶 Unnamed boat launch 🛶 Unnamed boat launch 🛶 Unnamed boat launch 🔭 Spectator Plaza 🔭 Tour Stop 10 🔭 Tour Stop 20 🔭 Tour Stop 30 🔭 Tour Stop 40 🔭 Tour Stop 50 🔭 Tour Stop 60 🔭 Tour Stop 70 🔭 Tour Stop 80 🔭 Tour Stop 90 🔭 Unnamed scenic view 🔭 Unnamed scenic view 🔭 Unnamed scenic view 🔭 Unnamed scenic view ⛰️ Table Mountain ⛰️ Two Tree Hill ⛰️ Unnamed peak ⛰️ Shanahan Hill 🧺 Barbeque 🧺 Unnamed picnic area in Chautauqua Park 🧺 Unnamed picnic area in Chautauqua Park 🧺 Unnamed picnic area in Chautauqua Park 🧺 Unnamed picnic area in Chautauqua Park 🧺 Unnamed picnic area in Chautauqua Park 🧺 Unnamed picnic area in Chautauqua Park 🧺 Unnamed picnic area in Chautauqua Park 🧺 Unnamed picnic area in Chautauqua Park 🧺 Unnamed picnic area in Chautauqua Park 🧺 Unnamed picnic area 🧺 Unnamed picnic area in Tantra Environmental Park 🧺 Unnamed picnic area 🧺 Unnamed picnic area 🧺 Unnamed picnic area 🧺 Unnamed picnic area 🧺 Unnamed picnic area 🧺 Unnamed picnic area 🧺 Unnamed picnic area 🧺 Unnamed picnic area in Holiday Park 🧺 Unnamed picnic area 🧺 Unnamed picnic area in Eaton Park 🥏 Harlow Platts Disc Golf Course 🥏 Valmont Disc Golf Course 🌱 Centennial Community Garden 🌱 Foothills Community Garden 🌱 Foothills Community Garden 🌱 Fortune Community Garden 🌱 Goss Grove Community Garden 🌱 Hawthorn Community Gardens 🌱 Hickory Community Garden 🌱 Holiday Community Garden 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Show all of Boulder
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
1 National Center for Atmospheric Research Managed by National Science Foundation
452 acres6.1 mi of trail
Bear Canyon - NCAR N.C.A.R. Trail N.C.A.R. - Bear Connector N.C.A.R. - Table Mesa N.C.A.R. - Table Mesa/Bear
🐕 Dog rules not recorded
2 Harlow Platts Community Park Park
52 acres1.7 mi of trail
🐕 Dog rules not recorded
3 Chautauqua Park Managed by The Colorado Chautauqua Association
36 acres0.9 mi of trail
Enchanted Mesa Trail Bluebell Hiking Trail
🐕 No dogsMapped in OpenStreetMap
22 acres0.9 mi of trail
Tantra Park Path
🐕 Dog rules not recorded
8 acres0.6 mi of trail
🐕 Dog rules not recorded
6 Foothills Community Park Managed by City of Boulder
65 acres0.5 mi of trail
Foothills South
🐕 Dog rules not recorded
7 Tom Watson Park Managed by City of Boulder
32 acres0.5 mi of trail
🐕 Dog rules not recorded
8 East Boulder Community Park Park
54 acres0.4 mi of trail
🐕 Dog rules not recorded
All 54 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 54 parks & preserves
🌲 National Center for Atmospheric Research 452 acres · 6.1 mi of trail · National Science Foundation
🌳 Harlow Platts Community Park 52 acres · 1.7 mi of trail
🌳 Chautauqua Park 36 acres · 0.9 mi of trail · The Colorado Chautauqua Association
🌳 Tantra Park 22 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
🌳 Arapahoe Ridge Park 8 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
🌳 Foothills Community Park 65 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · City of Boulder
🌳 Tom Watson Park 32 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · City of Boulder
🌳 East Boulder Community Park 54 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
🌳 Eaton Park 23 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
🌳 Scott Carpenter Park 18 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Scenic views in Boulder Show all on map
Showing 1–10 of 14 scenic views
🔭 Tour Stop 10 In Chautauqua Park
🔭 Tour Stop 20 In Chautauqua Park
🔭 Tour Stop 30 In Chautauqua Park
🔭 Tour Stop 40 In Chautauqua Park
🔭 Tour Stop 50 In Chautauqua Park
🔭 Tour Stop 60 In Chautauqua Park
🔭 Tour Stop 70 In Chautauqua Park
🔭 Tour Stop 80 In Chautauqua Park
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 29.1 mi Horses 18.8 mi Unpaved 58.5 mi
Showing 1–10 of 25 trails
Wonderland Hill 2.2 mi Hogback Ridge Trail 1.8 mi Eagle Trail 1.5 mi Mesa Trail 1.4 mi Shanahan - South Fork Trail 1.3 mi Red Rocks Spur Trail 1.2 mi Wonderland Lake Trail 1.0 mi Four Pines Trail 1.0 mi Cobalt Trail 1.0 mi Foothills South 0.9 mi Water
Lakes & rivers
Showing 1–10 of 17 places
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
4,820 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits
483 ac Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 297 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 13 of 173 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
Painted or protected bike lanes 53.3 mi Off-road bike paths 87.3 mi Shoulders & shared lanes 51.6 mi Boulder Valley Ranch (bike route) 2.8 mi Longmont-to-Boulder (LOBO) Regional Trail (bike route) 1.2 mi B360 (bike route) 0.5 mi
Courts & fields Tennis 101 Basketball 45 Baseball 34 Beach volleyball 24 Soccer 19 Football 14 Volleyball 4 Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Boulder
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Local Other or Unknown 2,864 ac Local Park 1,152 ac Unknown Easement 520 ac Private Other or Unknown 458 ac Other Easement 304 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
Place Managed by Acres Public access
City of Boulder City Parks Local Park Town or city 1,055 Open National Center for Atmospheric Research Private Other or Unknown Land trusts & nonprofits 458 Open Wells - East Local Other or Unknown Town or city 376 Open Parsons - Open Space Local Other or Unknown Town or city 235 Open Van Vleet - North Local Other or Unknown Town or city 186 Access unknown Erni - South Local Other or Unknown Town or city 166 Open Boulder Land, Irrigation, and Power Local Other or Unknown Town or city 163 Open Abbey, Benedictine Local Other or Unknown Town or city 158 Open Boulder Valley Ranch - 103 Corp. Local Other or Unknown Town or city 156 Open I.B.M. Local Other or Unknown Town or city 153 Open
History
Historic places to visit
Showing 1–10 of 13 places
🏛️ Arbor In Chautauqua Park · Monument
🏛️ Baseline marker Monument
🏛️ Civil War memorial War memorial
🏛️ Colorado Chautauqua National Historic Landmark Monument
🏛️ En Memoria de Los Seis de Boulder In Chautauqua Park · Memorial
🏛️ Old Lesser House Building
🏛️ SAE-ZBT-Marpa House Building · 2020-05-05
🏛️ Site of the state preparatory school builders first high school 1895 1937 Plaque
🏛️ The Holiday Sign Building
Nearby
Share Boulder and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Boulder's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) . Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure "Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 25.3-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.
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