1
Carpenter Natural Area
Park
135 acres2.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Outdoors · Cortez
Cortez, CO parks, trails & bike paths
About 15% of Cortez is conserved land, roughly 613 acres. There are about 12 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Carpenter Natural Area (2.4 mi), Parque de Vida (2.3 mi), and Hawkins Preserve (1.5 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Cortez, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Cortez outdoors
Conserved land
15%
613 of 4,004 acres
Trails
12 mi
1.9 mi per sq mi · 10 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
8
68 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
6.8 mi
6.8 mi lanes · 0.0 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
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Parque de Vida
Managed by City of Cortez
62 acres2.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Hawkins Preserve
Park
143 acres1.5 mi of trail
Hidden TrailPrickly Pear Path
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Centennial Park
Park
19 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
Veterans Park
Park
11 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Picnic areas in Cortez
Wyatt Picnic AreaIn Hawkins Preserve
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 1.3 miHorses 1.3 miUnpaved 6.0 mi
- Hidden Trail0.2 mi
- Prickly Pear Path0.2 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
613 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 123 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes6.8 mi
- Off-road bike paths0.0 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Soccer13
- Tennis8
- Baseball7
- Pickleball6
- Basketball4
- Football2
- Volleyball2
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Cortez
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Local Conservation Area 170 acLocal Recreation Area 157 acLocal Park 154 acUnknown Easement 123 acConservation Easement 123 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conquistador Golf CourseLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 149 | Restricted |
| Geer Natural AreaLocal Conservation Area | Town or city | 84 | Open |
| Carpenter Natural AreaLocal Conservation Area | Town or city | 81 | Open |
| Parque De VidaLocal Park | Town or city | 72 | Open |
| Denny Lake ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 33 | Open |
| Centennial ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 25 | Open |
| Old Montezuma-Cortez High SchoolLocal Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Cortez City ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Mesa Trail Donation/ Abandoned Evergreen ROWLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Dolores Rd. ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Hawkins PuebloIn Hawkins Preserve · Archaeological site
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Cortez'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 20-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.