Photo: Fitchhollister · CC BY-SA 3.0More than half of Telluride’s land is conserved: 68%
68% of Telluride’s land is conserved, about 963 acres. 15 miles of mapped trail cross Telluride, 7.0 per square mile of land. 94% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Telluride?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Telluride have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Telluride is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. 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 Telluride’s 68% is ahead of 100% of Colorado towns, while its trails per square mile lead 99% 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 Town Park, with 1.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
963 conserved acres
68% of Telluride’s land. Who manages Telluride’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 649 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 9 of 23 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bear Creek Canyon Private Recreation or Education | Town or city | 274 | Closed |
| Uncompahgre National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 35 | Open |
| Kentucky Placer Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 12 | Unknown |
| Telluride Town Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
5 places to go in Telluride
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Plus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 campground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
9 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers
2.8 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.
1 place on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Telluride: June 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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 37 | 43 | 48 | 57 | 68 | 72 | 69 | 64 | 53 | 42 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.9 |
June is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 72 °F). 2.6 inches fall in August, the wettest month. The climate in Telluride →
Questions about parks and trails in Telluride
Where can I hike in Telluride?
The longest trail networks: Town Park, 1.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Telluride is conserved land?
68% 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 Telluride’s trails?
Town Park and Judy Long Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Telluride?
2.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.8 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Telluride?
100,116 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Telluride or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 59 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Telluride have?
Ahead of 96% 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 Telluride 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 →