Penrose Park
Park
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Adam Paetow · CC BY-SA 4.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Penrose
Penrose has 8.4 miles of mapped trails, 0.5 for every square mile of land
8 acres are parks and preserves, 1.9 per 1,000 residents. 16% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Penrose’s land is conserved, about 225 acres.
Ahead of 25% of U.S. towns · #150 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
225 acres · of 17.8 sq mi of land
Trails
8.4 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
8 ac
1.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
16%
of residents within ½ mile
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Penrose have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Penrose is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #150 of 159 in Colorado. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Penrose’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical CO town 7% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · CO 1.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land1.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (8 acres) · CO 14 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home16% of residents within a half mile of a park · CO 97% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 25%
LessMore
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 6%
Colorado towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 7%; the U.S., 4%), so Penrose’s 2% is ahead of 22% of Colorado towns, while its trails per square mile lead 17% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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.
Who protects it
225 conserved acres
2% of Penrose’s land. Who manages Penrose’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State land board212 ac
State fish & wildlife12 ac
State Resource Management Area · 212 acState Conservation Area · 12 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado State Land Board State Land Board State Resource Management Area | State land board | 212 | Closed |
| Brush Hollow State Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 12 | Closed |
Things to do
3 places to go in Penrose
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Penrose
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
4 named trails
Named trails
Golden Circle0.3 mi
Virginia Circle0.1 mi
Garden Terrace0.1 mi
Top Notch Trail0.1 mi
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
2Baseball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Penrose: 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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 48 | 50 | 59 | 66 | 75 | 86 | 90 | 87 | 81 | 69 | 57 | 48 |
| Rain (in) | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
January is the driest month (0.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 2.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Penrose →
Questions about parks and trails in Penrose
How much of Penrose is conserved land?
2% 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 Penrose’s trails?
Penrose Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Penrose?
29,024 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Penrose or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 8 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Penrose have?
Ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #150 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 Penrose 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 →