1
Niver Creek Open Space
Nature preserve
64 acres1.9 mi of trail
Niver Creek Open Space
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Thornton
Thornton, CO parks, trails & bike paths
About 11% of Thornton is conserved land, roughly 2,649 acres. There are about 38 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Niver Creek Open Space (1.9 mi), Pelican Ponds Open Space (1.7 mi), and Aylor Open Space (0.8 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Thornton, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Thornton outdoors
Conserved land
11%
2,649 of 24,647 acres
Trails
38 mi
1 mi per sq mi · 17 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
82
18 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
163.8 mi
58.7 mi lanes · 104.9 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
Pelican Ponds Open Space
Managed by Adams County
194 acres1.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
3
Aylor Open Space
Park
138 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
4
Sintra Lewis Pointe Park
Managed by City of Thornton
20 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
5
Grandview Ponds Open Space
Park
54 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
6
Bell Roth Park
Park
12 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
7
Lakeview Tributary Open Space
Nature preserve
30 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
8
Lee Lateral greenway
Park
20 acres0.4 mi of trail
Lee Lateral Ditch TrailLee Lateral alternate path
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 60 parks & preserves
- Homestead Hills Park17 ac · 0.4 mi trail · Directions
- Trail Winds Park and Open Space110 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Lambertson Lakes Park & Open Space42 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Eastlake #3 Park and Nature Preserve101 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Riverwalk Ballfields & Batting Cages21 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Fallbrook Farms Park17 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Bramming Farm Park2 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Margaret W. Carpenter Park & Open Space151 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Spratt Lake Fishing Area95 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Community Park32 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Springvale Park Disc Golf Course19 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Talon View13 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Woodglen Meadows Park9 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Willow Bend II-Signal Hill Park8 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Sherwood Hills Park6 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Platte River Trailhead5 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Franklin Street Park3 ac · 0.1 mi trail
- Riverdale Open Space58 ac · Directions
- Signal Ditch Park and Open Space54 ac
- Woodglen / Brookshire Park34 ac · Directions
- Brantner Gulch Open Space29 ac · Directions
- Hunters Glen Park27 ac · Directions
- Thornton Sports Complex25 ac · Directions
- Cherry Park23 ac · Directions
- Civic Center Park17 ac · Directions
- Grange Creek Park16 ac · Directions
- Quebec Highlands Park15 ac
- Brantner Gulch OS14 ac · Directions
- Willow Bend Park14 ac · Directions
- Park Village14 ac · Directions
- Yorkborough Park12 ac
- Skylake Ranch Park12 ac
- Northbrook Park10 ac · Directions
- Sky Lake Park9 ac
- Pecos Park9 ac · Directions
- Northaven OS8 ac · Directions
- King Ranch Estates Park8 ac
- Lake Village Park8 ac · Directions
- Aspen Park8 ac
- Cherrywood Park8 ac · Directions
- Holly Park7 ac
- Brantner Village Park7 ac
- Eagleview Park7 ac · Directions
- Northstar Park6 ac · Directions
- Quebec Run Open Space6 ac · Directions
- Tuck Ditch Park5 ac
- Walton Heath Park5 ac · Directions
- North Creek Farms Park5 ac
- Elaine T. Valente Open Space Park4 ac · Directions
- Eastlake Park4 ac · Directions
- Colony Park4 ac · Directions
- Briar Ridge Park4 ac
Who protects the land
2,649 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 195 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 12 of 159 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes58.7 mi
- Off-road bike paths104.9 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.2 mi
Courts & fields
- Basketball53
- Tennis41
- Baseball35
- Soccer16
- Football8
- Pickleball5
- Softball4
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Next door
Thornton and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thornton | 10.7% | 38.3 mi | 82 |
| Northglenn | 8% | 8.0 mi | 20 |
| Todd Creek | 4.9% | 9.0 mi | 1 |
| Welby | 4.2% | 2.0 mi | 4 |
| Commerce City | 3.9% | 25.7 mi | 30 |
| Sherrelwood | 3% | 0.8 mi | 2 |
| Broomfield | 20.5% | 38.9 mi | 73 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Thornton'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 29.7-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.