Cottonwood Park
Park
13 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainA−Outdoors
Outdoors in Mancos
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Mancos
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 1.4 miles of mapped trail cross Mancos, 2.2 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Cottonwood Park (0.7 mi).
Ahead of 79% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
2 acres · of 0.6 sq mi of land
Trails
1.4 mi
2.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
23 ac
19 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Mancos?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mancos have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mancos is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mancos’ overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical CO town 7% · U.S. 4%C−Trails2.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · CO 1.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land19 acres of park per 1,000 residents (23 acres) · CO 14 · U.S. 13BParks 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 79%
LessMore
Colorado towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 7%; the U.S., 4%), so Mancos’ under 1% is ahead of 8% of Colorado towns, while its trails per square mile lead 73% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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
The longest trail network is Cottonwood Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Riverside Park
Managed by Town of Mancos
3 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2 conserved acres
under 1% of Mancos’ land. Who manages Mancos’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service1 ac
National Forest · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Juan National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 1 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Mancos
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mancos
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
1Skate park
1Football
1Basketball
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 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 Mancos: May to 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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 40 | 44 | 52 | 59 | 69 | 80 | 85 | 82 | 75 | 63 | 50 | 40 |
| Rain (in) | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
June is the driest month (0.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 2.0 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Mancos →
Questions about parks and trails in Mancos
Where can I hike in Mancos?
The longest trail networks: Cottonwood Park, 0.7 miles; Mancos Wayside Park, 0.3 miles; Riverside Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mancos is conserved land?
under 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 Mancos’ trails?
Cottonwood Park and Mancos Wayside Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Mancos?
85,007 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mancos or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 24 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mancos have?
Ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Mancos 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 →