Lantern House Park
Park
3 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Stepping Stone
9% of Stepping Stone’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. 2.2 miles of mapped trail cross Stepping Stone, 3.0 per square mile of land. 9% of Stepping Stone’s land is conserved, about 41 acres.
Ahead of 88% of U.S. towns · #67 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Conserved land
9%
41 acres · of 0.7 sq mi of land
Trails
2.2 mi
3.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
17 ac
5.4 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.5 mi
0.4 mi lanes
What kind of outdoors town is Stepping Stone?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Stepping Stone have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Stepping Stone is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #67 of 159 in Colorado. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Stepping Stone’s overall grade.
Conserved land9% of the land · typical CO town 7% · U.S. 4%A−Trails3.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · CO 1.3 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land5.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents (17 acres) · CO 14 · U.S. 13CParks 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 88%
LessMore
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 58%
Colorado towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 7%; the U.S., 4%), so Stepping Stone’s 9% is ahead of 59% of Colorado towns, while its trails per square mile lead 85% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− 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 Lantern House Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Sunburst Park
Park
5 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Winding Path Park
Park
5 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Four Square Park
Park
1 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Lantern House Park3 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Sunburst Park5 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Winding Path Park5 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Four Square Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Butterfly Park1 acres
Who protects it
41 conserved acres
9% of Stepping Stone’s land. Who manages Stepping Stone’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County41 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 41 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 1 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Douglas County County Land - General Local Other or Unknown | County | 41 | Unknown |
Things to do
5 places to go in Stepping Stone
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Stepping Stone
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.8 mi
East/West Regional Trail0.8 mi
Biking & sports
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
East/West Regional TrailBike route
0.8 miCourts & fields
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Stepping Stone: April to June and 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) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 45 | 47 | 55 | 60 | 69 | 81 | 87 | 85 | 77 | 65 | 53 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
January is the driest month (0.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 2.4 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Stepping Stone →
Next door
Stepping Stone and its neighbors
Stepping Stone has the second most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stepping Stone | 9% | 3.0 | 5 | 99%+ | A |
| Parker | 20% | 2.7 | 15 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Meridian Village | 17% | 3.3 | 4 | 99%+ | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Stepping Stone
Where can I hike in Stepping Stone?
The longest trail networks: Lantern House Park, 0.4 miles; Sunburst Park, 0.3 miles; Winding Path Park, 0.2 miles; Four Square Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Stepping Stone is conserved land?
9% 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 Stepping Stone’s trails?
Lantern House Park and Sunburst Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Stepping Stone?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of painted or protected lanes. Named routes: East/West Regional Trail.
Is there public land near Stepping Stone?
16,431 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Stepping Stone or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 17 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Stepping Stone have?
Ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #67 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 Stepping Stone 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 →