Shannon Farm · Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY-SA 3.022% of Lafayette’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. 33 miles of mapped trail cross Lafayette, 3.5 per square mile of land. 22% of Lafayette’s land is conserved, about 1,291 acres.
Ahead of 97% of U.S. towns · #26 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Lafayette?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Lafayette have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lafayette is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns, #26 of 159 in Colorado. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, park acres per resident lowest.
Colorado towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 7%; the U.S., 4%), so Lafayette’s 22% is ahead of 85% of Colorado towns, while its trails per square mile lead 92% 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 Waneka Park, with 1.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Rothman Open Space
Whitetail Park
Greenlee Wildlife Preserve
LaMont Does Park
All 28 parks & preserves
1,291 conserved acres
22% of Lafayette’s land. Who manages Lafayette’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 317 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 49 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Peaks Golf Course Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 177 | Restricted |
| Waneka Lake Park Local Park | Town or city | 102 | Open |
| Lafayette Buffer Parcel Local Other or Unknown | County | 94 | Unknown |
| American Pacific Financial Local Other or Unknown | County | 86 | Closed |
| Rothman Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 64 | Open |
| Rock Creek West Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 60 | Open |
| Stephenson Nelson Local Other or Unknown | County | 58 | Unknown |
| Fingru Open Space Local Other or Unknown | County | 55 | Closed |
| Josephine Roche Open Space Local Other or Unknown | County | 32 | Closed |
| Coal Creek Corridor Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 31 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
68 places to go in Lafayette
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
46 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
Plus 1 scenic view without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
10 more disc golf
1 named trail and 3 lakes & rivers
33 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.
8 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 27 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
The best walking months in Lafayette: April and 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 | 9.3 |
| High (°F) | 46 | 48 | 56 | 62 | 72 | 83 | 89 | 87 | 79 | 66 | 54 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 |
December is the driest month (0.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 2.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Lafayette →
Lafayette and its neighbors
Lafayette has the second most mapped trails of the 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette | 22% | 3.5 | 16 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Erie | 15% | 0.9 | 29 | 99%+ | A |
| Louisville | 23% | 1.9 | 25 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Broomfield | 21% | 1.2 | 29 | 99% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Lafayette
Where can I hike in Lafayette?
The longest trail networks: Waneka Park, 1.7 miles; Rothman Open Space, 1.1 miles; Whitetail Park, 0.8 miles; Greenlee Wildlife Preserve, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Lafayette is conserved land?
22% 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 Lafayette’s trails?
Waneka Park and Rothman Open Space don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Lafayette?
33 miles of bike routes are on the map: 13 of painted or protected lanes, 16 of off-road paths and 3.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Lafayette?
50,794 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lafayette or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 482 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Lafayette have?
Ahead of 97% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #26 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 Lafayette 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 →