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Mill City HouseMill City House · Photo: Jeffrey Beall from Colorado, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Applewood

Applewood has 12 miles of mapped trails, 2.9 for every square mile of land

23% of Applewood’s land is conserved, about 598 acres. 96% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 341 acres are parks and preserves, 41 per 1,000 residents.

Ahead of 98% of U.S. towns · #22 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it

Conserved land
23%
598 acres · of 4.1 sq mi of land
Trails
12 mi
2.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
341 ac
41 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
96%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.3 mi
1.0 mi lanes · 0.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2

What kind of outdoors town is Applewood?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

A trail town2.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 97% of U.S. towns.Land that stays wild23% of the land is conserved; a typical Colorado town, 7%.Parks close to home96% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Applewood have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Applewood is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #22 of 159 in Colorado. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, park acres per resident lowest.

A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Applewood’s overall grade.
Conserved land23% of the land · typical CO town 7% · U.S. 4%ATrails2.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (12 mi) · CO 1.3 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land41 acres of park per 1,000 residents (341 acres) · CO 14 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home96% of residents within a half mile of a park · CO 97% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 98%
LessMore
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 87%

Colorado towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 7%; the U.S., 4%), so Applewood’s 23% is ahead of 87% of Colorado towns, while its trails per square mile lead 83% of them.

Water is 9% of Applewood’s area (0 of 4 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 21%.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.

PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →

The map

Conserved land, trails & bike routes

Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.

1234
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk

Pick a walk

The longest trail network is Welchester Tree Grant Park, with 1.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Welchester Tree Grant Park

Park
20 acres1.1 mi of trail
Willow Tree Loop
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Applewood Park

Managed by Prospect Recreation & Park District
11 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Tanglewood Sports Park

Park
10 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Daniels Park

Park
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 5 parks & preserves
Welchester Tree Grant Park20 acres · 1.1 mi of trail
Applewood Park11 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · Prospect Recreation & Park District
Directions
Tanglewood Sports Park10 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Directions
Daniels Park13 acres
Directions
Maple Grove Park8 acres
Directions
Who protects it

598 conserved acres

23% of Applewood’s land. Water is left out: Applewood has 4.1 square miles of land and 0.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Applewood’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

County556 ac
Other state land253 ac
Regional agency33 ac
Town or city13 ac
Not recorded446 ac
Other Easement · 697 acLocal Other or Unknown · 450 acLocal Park · 128 acLocal Recreation Area · 22 acUnknown Easement · 3 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 13 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
South Table Mountain - Camp George West / Clear Creek Legacy
Local Other or Unknown
County444Open
South Table Mountain Park
Local Park
County90Open
Welchester Tree Grant Park
Local Park
County20Open
Daniels Park
Local Park
Town or city13Open
Applewood Park
Local Recreation Area
Regional agency12Open
Maple Grove Park
Local Park
Regional agency11Open
Tanglewood Sports Park
Local Recreation Area
Regional agency10Open
Jeffco Open Space
Local Other or Unknown
County1Unknown
Things to do

28 places to go in Applewood

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Applewood
Maple Grove PlaygroundIn Maple Grove Park
Directions

Plus 16 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.

Trails & water

8 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 6.3 miHorses · 4.9 miUnpaved · 9.6 mi
Basalt Cap Loop Trail1.4 mi
T. rex Tooth Trail1.4 mi
Welch Ditch Trail1.4 mi
Ancient Palms Trail1.0 mi
Cretaceous Trail0.8 mi
Tertiary Trail0.5 mi
Croc Tooth Trail0.5 mi
Willow Tree Loop0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Rolling ReservoirreservoirClear Creek
Biking & sports

2.3 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

1.0 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.2 mi
off-road bike paths
1.0 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
12Tennis
6Baseball
6Basketball
4Volleyball
1Soccer
1Football

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

3 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Ammunition IglooStructure · listed 1993
About it
Colorado AmphitheaterStructure · listed 1993
About it
Hill Section, Golden Hill CemeterySite · listed 1995
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Applewood: April to June and August

NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.610.611.813.214.315.014.713.712.411.19.99.4
High (°F)464755606981878477655446
Rain (in)0.60.81.62.52.61.81.91.91.41.20.90.7

January is the driest month (0.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 2.6 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Applewood →

Next door

Applewood and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Lakewood123 miWheat Ridge15 miApplewood12 miFairmount7.5 miWest Pleasant View2.8 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Applewood23%2.94196%A+
Lakewood25%2.84099%A+
Wheat Ridge7%1.6799%+A−
Fairmount6%1.22499%+A
West Pleasant View7%1.81199%+A

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Applewood

Where can I hike in Applewood?

The longest trail networks: Welchester Tree Grant Park, 1.1 miles; Applewood Park, 0.4 miles; Tanglewood Sports Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Applewood is conserved land?

23% of its land, against a typical 7% for a Colorado town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Applewood’s trails?

Welchester Tree Grant Park and Applewood Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Applewood?

2.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.0 of painted or protected lanes, 0.2 of off-road paths and 1.0 of shoulders and shared lanes.

Is there public land near Applewood?

50,739 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Applewood or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 341 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Applewood have?

Ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #22 of 159 in Colorado. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

Trail talk

Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Applewood neighbors.

Town Square →
Share a tip
Sources

Where this page comes from

Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →