1
Vail Nature Center
Nature preserve
6 acres0.7 mi of trail
Meadow-Creek TrailHistory TrailFive Senses TrailEcology TrailNature Center Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Vail
Vail, CO parks, trails & bike paths
About 31% of Vail is conserved land, roughly 935 acres. There are about 7.6 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Vail Nature Center (0.7 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Vail, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Vail outdoors
Conserved land
31%
935 of 3,005 acres
Trails
7.6 mi
1.6 mi per sq mi · 6 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
9
203 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
17.3 mi
6.5 mi lanes · 10.8 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
Bighorn Park
Park
7 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dogs allowedMapped in OpenStreetMap
No trailhead mapped yet
3
Ford Park
Park
28 acres0.2 mi of trail
Back to Nature Trail
Dog rules not recorded
4
Donovan Park
Managed by Town of Vail
11 acres
Dogs on leashMapped in OpenStreetMap
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 9 parks & preserves
Vail Nature Center6 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Bighorn Park7 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Ford Park28 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Donovan Park11 acres · Town of Vail
Eagles Nest Wilderness2 acres · United States Forest Service
Buffehr Creek Park2 acres · Town of Vail
Red Sandstone Park1 acres
Ellefson Memorial Park1 acres
Stephens Park1 acres · Town of Vail
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Playgrounds in Vail
Showing 1–10 of 18 playgrounds
Booth Creek Park Playground
Ellefson Memorial Park PlaygroundIn Ellefson Memorial Park
Ford Park PlaygroundIn Ford Park
Founders Play Area
Imagination Station
Stephens Park Playground
Sunbird Park
Unnamed playground in Buffehr Creek Park
Unnamed playground in Donovan Park
Unnamed playground
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 2.9 miUnpaved 5.4 mi
Showing 1–10 of 11 trails
- Vail Trail1.0 mi
- North Trail Bonus0.7 mi
- North Trail0.7 mi
- Son of Middle Creek Trail0.4 mi
- Booth Lake Trail0.2 mi
- Meadow-Creek Trail0.2 mi
- Lionshead Access0.1 mi
- Five Senses Trail0.1 mi
- Back to Nature Trail0.1 mi
- History Trail0.1 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
935 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 20 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 1 of 39 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes6.5 mi
- Off-road bike paths10.8 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis41
- Volleyball5
- Pickleball4
- Soccer3
- Baseball3
- Basketball2
- Multi-sport2
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Vail
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Local Other or Unknown 538 acLocal Conservation Area 414 acLocal Park 156 acNational Forest 148 acLocal Recreation Area 109 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town of Vail City Land - GeneralLocal Other or Unknown | Town or city | 538 | Open |
| Open SpaceLocal Park | Town or city | 193 | Open |
| White River National ForestNational Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 148 | Open |
| Katsos Ranch Open Space Vail Memorial ParkLocal Conservation Area | Town or city | 148 | Open |
| Town of Vail City Golf CourseLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 109 | Open |
| Oipen SpaceLocal Conservation Area | Town or city | 89 | Open |
| Town of Vail City ParksLocal Park | Town or city | 70 | Open |
| Open Space / Spraddle Creek TrailheadLocal Conservation Area | Town or city | 21 | Open |
| Stephens ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Big Horn ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
10th Mountain DivisionWar memorial
Earl V. EatonPlaque
Gore Creek School HouseIn Ford Park · Building · 1922
International Bridge and World Plaza Aug 21 1992Plaque · 1992-08-21
John & Cissy DobsonPlaque · 1966
Pete Seibert's DreamPlaque
Seibert FountainFountain · 2009-01-15
The EdgeStatue · 2008
Zeke M. PiercePlaque
Vail Memorial ParkCemetery
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Vail'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.