Clear Creek Valley Park
Park
37 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Berkley
12% of Berkley’s land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 4.0 miles of mapped trail cross Berkley, 1.1 per square mile of land. 12% of Berkley’s land is conserved, about 267 acres.
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns · #45 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Conserved land
12%
267 acres · of 3.6 sq mi of land
Trails
4.0 mi
1.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
253 ac
23 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.9 mi
0.2 mi lanes · 4.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
4
What kind of outdoors town is Berkley?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Berkley have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Berkley is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #45 of 159 in Colorado. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Berkley’s overall grade.
Conserved land12% of the land · typical CO town 7% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · CO 1.3 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land23 acres of park per 1,000 residents (253 acres) · CO 14 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · CO 97% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 93%
LessMore
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 72%
Colorado towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 7%; the U.S., 4%), so Berkley’s 12% is ahead of 68% of Colorado towns, while its trails per square mile lead 41% of them.
Water is 12% of Berkley’s area (0 of 4 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 10%.
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.
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 Clear Creek Valley Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Lowell Ponds Wildlife Area
Nature preserve
55 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Lowell Ponds West
Who protects it
267 conserved acres
12% of Berkley’s land. Water is left out: Berkley has 3.6 square miles of land and 0.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Berkley’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County151 ac
Regional agency64 ac
State fish & wildlife50 ac
Town or city1 ac
Local Park · 93 acLocal Other or Unknown · 75 acState Conservation Area · 50 acLocal Recreation Area · 31 acLocal Conservation Area · 16 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 14 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Baker Reservoir Local Park | County | 74 | Open |
| Lowell Ponds State Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 50 | Restricted |
| Clear Creek Valley Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 44 | Unknown |
| Little Dry Creek Lake Local Other or Unknown | County | 30 | Open |
| Clear Creek Channel Local Recreation Area | County | 18 | Open |
| Clear Creek Greenway Local Conservation Area | County | 12 | Open |
| 55th & Lowell Trailhead Local Recreation Area | County | 10 | Open |
| Hidden Lake Local Park | Regional agency | 9 | Open |
| Carl Park Local Park | Regional agency | 7 | Open |
| Little Dry Creek Trail Open Space Local Conservation Area | County | 4 | Open |
3 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
4 places to go in Berkley
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Berkley
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.7 miUnpaved · 1.2 mi
Little Dry Creek Trail0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.2 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
4.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Pickleball
3Soccer
3Beach volleyball
3Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Berkley: April to June
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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.4 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 46 | 48 | 57 | 63 | 72 | 84 | 89 | 87 | 79 | 66 | 55 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
January is the driest month (0.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 2.4 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Berkley →
Next door
Berkley and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkley | 12% | 1.1 | 23 | 99%+ | A |
| Westminster | 34% | 3.0 | 34 | 99% | A+ |
| Arvada | 28% | 1.3 | 49 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Denver | 7% | 1.2 | 9 | 99%+ | A− |
| Twin Lakes | 6% | 1.1 | 9 | 99%+ | A− |
| North Washington | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Berkley
Where can I hike in Berkley?
The longest trail networks: Clear Creek Valley Park, 0.3 miles; Lowell Ponds Wildlife Area, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Berkley is conserved land?
12% 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 Berkley’s trails?
Clear Creek Valley Park and Lowell Ponds Wildlife Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Berkley?
4.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.2 of painted or protected lanes and 4.8 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Berkley?
29,372 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Berkley or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 253 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Berkley have?
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #45 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 Berkley neighbors.
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 →