Photo: Fish Cop · Public domainFort Carson has 59 miles of mapped trails, 2.1 for every square mile of land
29 acres are parks and preserves, 1.6 per 1,000 residents. 39% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns · #140 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Fort Carson?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Fort Carson have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fort Carson is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #140 of 159 in Colorado. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Colorado towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 7%; the U.S., 4%), so Fort Carson’s 1% is ahead of 11% of Colorado towns, while its trails per square mile lead 71% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Founder's Field, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
143 conserved acres
1% of Fort Carson’s land. Who manages Fort Carson’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Horse Park Local Park | Town or city | 143 | Open |
113 places to go in Fort Carson
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
113 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
28 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The best walking months in Fort Carson: 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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 47 | 49 | 57 | 63 | 73 | 84 | 89 | 86 | 79 | 67 | 55 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
December is the driest month (0.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 3.2 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Fort Carson →
Fort Carson and its neighbors
Fort Carson has the most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Carson | 1% | 2.1 | 2 | 39% | C+ |
| Fountain | 5% | 1.0 | 17 | 83% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Fort Carson
Where can I hike in Fort Carson?
The longest trail networks: Founder's Field, 0.3 miles; Iron Horse Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Fort Carson is conserved land?
1% 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 Fort Carson’s trails?
Founder's Field and Iron Horse Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Fort Carson?
28 miles of bike routes are on the map: 6.7 of painted or protected lanes and 22 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Fort Carson?
40,989 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fort Carson or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 29 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Fort Carson have?
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #140 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 Fort Carson neighbors.
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 →