Babcock Park
Park
24 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Rocky Ford
Rocky Ford has 33 acres of parks, 8.8 for every 1,000 residents
4.1 miles of mapped trail cross Rocky Ford, 2.4 per square mile of land. 92% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Babcock Park (0.6 mi).
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns · #97 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
30 acres · of 1.7 sq mi of land
Trails
4.1 mi
2.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
33 ac
8.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
92%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Rocky Ford?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Rocky Ford have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Rocky Ford is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #97 of 159 in Colorado. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Rocky Ford’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical CO town 7% · U.S. 4%B−Trails2.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · CO 1.3 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land8.8 acres of park per 1,000 residents (33 acres) · CO 14 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home92% 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 74%
LessMore
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 39%
Colorado towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 7%; the U.S., 4%), so Rocky Ford’s 3% is ahead of 28% of Colorado towns, while its trails per square mile lead 77% 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 Babcock Park, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
30 conserved acres
3% of Rocky Ford’s land. Who manages Rocky Ford’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city30 ac
Local Park · 30 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babcock Park Local Park | Town or city | 21 | Open |
| Play Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Library Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Rocky Ford
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Rocky Ford
Rocky Ford Swimming PoolIn Babcock Park
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Rocky Ford
Plaza Nueva Apartments Playground
DirectionsPlus 7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.5 mi
Melon Trail0.5 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
4Baseball
4Basketball
3Tennis
2Football
1Soccer
1Multi-sport
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 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 Rocky Ford: April and May
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 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 47 | 51 | 62 | 69 | 79 | 89 | 94 | 91 | 84 | 71 | 57 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
January is the driest month (0.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 94 °F). 2.2 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 94 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Rocky Ford →
Questions about parks and trails in Rocky Ford
Where can I hike in Rocky Ford?
The longest trail networks: Babcock Park, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Rocky Ford is conserved land?
3% 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 Rocky Ford’s trails?
Babcock Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Rocky Ford?
3,883 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Rocky Ford or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 33 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Rocky Ford have?
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #97 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 Rocky Ford 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 →