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City of Wheat Ridge Municipal BuildingPhoto: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Wheat Ridge

7% of Wheat Ridge’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. 15 miles of mapped trail cross Wheat Ridge, 1.6 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Prospect Park (0.8 mi), Fairmount Park (0.7 mi), Lewis Meadows Park (0.5 mi).

Ahead of 83% of U.S. towns · #80 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it

Conserved land
7%
396 acres · of 9.4 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
1.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
226 ac
7.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
19 mi
7.3 mi lanes · 11 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
8

What kind of outdoors town is Wheat Ridge?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Parks close to homeVirtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park.A trail town1.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 90% of U.S. towns.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Wheat Ridge have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Wheat Ridge is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #80 of 159 in Colorado. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.

A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Wheat Ridge’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical CO town 7% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · CO 1.3 · U.S. 0.4APark land7.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (226 acres) · CO 14 · U.S. 13C+Parks 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 83%
LessMore
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 50%

Colorado towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 7%; the U.S., 4%), so Wheat Ridge’s 7% is ahead of 51% of Colorado towns, while its trails per square mile lead 60% 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.

1234
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 Prospect Park, with 0.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Prospect Park

Park
47 acres0.8 mi of trail
Moore St to Prospect Lake Bridge LoopProspect Lake to West Lake Loop
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Fairmount Park

Park
11 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Lewis Meadows Park

Park
10 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Hopper Hollow Park

Park
3 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 15 parks & preserves
Prospect Park47 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Directions
Fairmount Park11 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Directions
Lewis Meadows Park10 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Hopper Hollow Park3 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Directions
Anderson Park31 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Directions
Johnson Park8 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Richards-Hart Estate Park3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
CreekSide Park9 acres
Directions
Panorama Park8 acres
Directions
Paramount Park8 acres
Directions
Discovery Park8 acres
Directions
Randall Park6 acres
Directions
Stites Park3 acres
Directions
Apel-Bacher Park2 acres
Directions
Louise Turner Park1 acres
Directions
Who protects it

396 conserved acres

7% of Wheat Ridge’s land. Who manages Wheat Ridge’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city326 ac
County28 ac
State fish & wildlife26 ac
Regional Water Districts19 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 197 acLocal Park · 157 acState Conservation Area · 26 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 19 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Coors Brewery / Clear Creek Legacy
Local Other or Unknown
Town or city192Closed
Prospect
Local Park
Town or city29Open
Anderson
Local Park
Town or city27Open
Ward Pond
State Conservation Area
State fish & wildlife26Open
Rec. Ctr.
Local Park
Town or city12Open
Fruitdale
Local Park
Town or city11Open
Manwaring Athletic Field
Local Park
Town or city11Open
Denver Water Board Non-Governmental Lands
Private Other or Unknown
Regional Water Districts11Closed
Discovery
Local Park
Town or city9Open
Panorama
Local Park
County9Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

39 places to go in Wheat Ridge

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Wheat Ridge
Prospect Valley Playground
Directions
SplashIn Discovery Park
Directions

34 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.

Trails & water

5 named trails and 8 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.3 miHorses · 0.6 miUnpaved · 8.2 mi
Moore St to Prospect Lake Bridge Loop1.1 mi
Prospect Lake to West Lake Loop1.1 mi
Kipling Crossing Loop, Iris St to Moore St, Clear Creek0.9 mi
Johnson to Anderson Park Loop, Clear Creek0.7 mi
Johnson to Anderson Park Foot Path0.5 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Ashland ReservoirreservoirBass LakelakeNorth Henry Lee ReservoirProspect LakelakeTabor LakereservoirWest LakeClear Creek
Biking & sports

19 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

7.3 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
11 mi
off-road bike paths
0.3 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
16Basketball
16Baseball
14Tennis
9Soccer
1Beach volleyball
1Skate park
1Football

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

5 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Pioneer Sod HouseBuilding · listed 1973
About it
Richards MansionBuilding · listed 1977
About it
Crown Hill Burial ParkDistrict · listed 2008
About it
James H. Baugh HouseDistrict · listed 2012
About it
Fruitdale Grade SchoolBuilding · listed 2013
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Wheat Ridge: April and 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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.610.611.813.214.415.014.713.712.411.19.99.4
High (°F)474856637183898779665546
Rain (in)0.60.81.42.32.71.81.91.71.31.20.90.6

December is the driest month (0.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 2.7 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Wheat Ridge →

Next door

Wheat Ridge and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Lakewood123 miArvada51 miWheat Ridge15 miApplewood12 miFairmount7.5 miEdgewater0.3 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Wheat Ridge7%1.6799%+A−
Arvada28%1.34999%+A+
Fairmount6%1.22499%+A
Edgewater3%0.4399%+B
Lakewood25%2.84099%A+
Applewood23%2.94196%A+

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Wheat Ridge

Where can I hike in Wheat Ridge?

The longest trail networks: Prospect Park, 0.8 miles; Fairmount Park, 0.7 miles; Lewis Meadows Park, 0.5 miles; Hopper Hollow Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Wheat Ridge is conserved land?

7% 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 Wheat Ridge’s trails?

Prospect Park and Fairmount Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Wheat Ridge?

19 miles of bike routes are on the map: 7.3 of painted or protected lanes, 11 of off-road paths and 0.3 of shoulders and shared lanes.

Is there public land near Wheat Ridge?

51,261 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Wheat Ridge or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 226 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Wheat Ridge have?

Ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #80 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 Wheat Ridge neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →