Miners Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Satank Bridge · Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Carbondale
Carbondale has 9.0 miles of mapped trails, 4.3 for every square mile of land
21% of Carbondale’s land is conserved, about 270 acres. 97% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 60 acres are parks and preserves, 9.1 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns · #50 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Conserved land
21%
270 acres · of 2.1 sq mi of land
Trails
9.0 mi
4.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
60 ac
9.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
97%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
7.1 mi
6.5 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Carbondale?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Carbondale have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Carbondale is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #50 of 159 in Colorado. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Carbondale’s overall grade.
Conserved land21% of the land · typical CO town 7% · U.S. 4%ATrails4.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · CO 1.3 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land9.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (60 acres) · CO 14 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home97% 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 92%
LessMore
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 69%
Colorado towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 7%; the U.S., 4%), so Carbondale’s 21% is ahead of 84% of Colorado towns, while its trails per square mile lead 96% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Gianinetti Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Sopris Park
Park
3 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 7 parks & preserves
Miners Park3 acres
Gianinetti Park3 acres
Sopris Park3 acres
Triangle Park3 acres
DirectionsHendrick Ranch Park2 acres
Colorado Meadows Park1 acres
Hendrick Dog Park1 acres
Who protects it
270 conserved acres
21% of Carbondale’s land. Who manages Carbondale’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners175 ac
Town or city85 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits25 ac
State parks9 ac
U.S. Forest Service1 ac
State fish & wildlife1 ac
Private Recreation or Education · 175 acConservation Easement · 51 acLocal Conservation Area · 31 acLocal Park · 29 acRecreation or Education Easement · 9 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 34 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| River Valley Ranch Golf Course Private Recreation or Education | Private owners | 175 | Restricted |
| Carbondale Nature Park Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 31 | Open |
| Town of Carbondale City Parks Local Park | Town or city | 12 | Open |
| Triangle Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Sopris Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Miners Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Hendrick Ranch Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| White River National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 1 | Open |
Things to do
10 places to go in Carbondale
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Carbondale
Triangle Park PlaygroundIn Triangle Park
DirectionsPlus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Carbondale
Carbondale Nature Park
DirectionsPicnic areas in Carbondale
2 picnic areas without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Carbondale
Town of Carbondale Campground
DirectionsCommunity gardens in Carbondale
2 community gardens without a name on the map.
Trails & water
5 named trails
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.4 miUnpaved · 1.7 mi
Rio Grande Soft Surface Trail0.5 mi
Carbondale Single Track0.5 mi
Ruthie's Run0.2 mi
Lower Three Gulch0.2 mi
Mushroom Rock0.2 mi
Biking & sports
7.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
6.5 mi
off-road bike paths
0.6 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
10Tennis
6Pickleball
3Baseball
2Soccer
1Basketball
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Carbondale: 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 37 | 42 | 52 | 60 | 71 | 82 | 88 | 86 | 78 | 64 | 49 | 37 |
| Rain (in) | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
December is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 1.4 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Carbondale →
Questions about parks and trails in Carbondale
How much of Carbondale is conserved land?
21% 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 Carbondale’s trails?
Miners Park and Gianinetti Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Carbondale?
7.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 6.5 of off-road paths and 0.6 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Carbondale?
74,055 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Carbondale or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 84 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Carbondale have?
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #50 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 Carbondale 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 →