Prospector Park
Park
21 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Colstrip
7% of Colstrip’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. 9.8 miles of mapped trail cross Colstrip, 2.4 per square mile of land. 124 acres are parks and preserves, 59 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
185 acres · of 4.0 sq mi of land
Trails
9.8 mi
2.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
124 ac
59 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
5.0 mi
5.0 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Colstrip?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Colstrip have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Colstrip is ahead of 97% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, conserved land lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Colstrip’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical MT town 10% · U.S. 4%B+Trails2.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · MT 0.7 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land59 acres of park per 1,000 residents (124 acres) · MT 14 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · MT 91% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 97%
LessMore
Montana towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 10%; the U.S., 4%), so Colstrip’s 7% is ahead of 38% of Montana towns, while its trails per square mile lead 81% 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 Prospector Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Big Timber Park
Park
13 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 14 parks & preserves
Prospector Park21 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Stillwater Park48 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsBig Timber Park13 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Winchester Park8 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsStillwater Ballfield Complex14 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsPiedmont Park3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Laramie Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Hollister Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Obert Rye Park5 acres
DirectionsCottonwood Park3 acres
DirectionsAntelope Park2 acres
North Park1 acres
Firemans Park1 acres
DirectionsCherry Street Plaza1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
185 conserved acres
7% of Colstrip’s land. Who manages Colstrip’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other or Unknown Local Government185 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 185 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local Other or Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Other or Unknown Local Government | 185 | Unknown |
Things to do
15 places to go in Colstrip
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Colstrip
Plus 11 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Disc golf in Colstrip
Bruce Schaeffer FieldsIn Stillwater Park
DirectionsBiking & sports
5.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
5.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Basketball
5Baseball
4Multi-sport
2Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Colstrip: June, August and September
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) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 35 | 37 | 48 | 57 | 66 | 77 | 87 | 86 | 75 | 59 | 45 | 35 |
| Rain (in) | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
December is the driest month (0.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 3.1 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Colstrip →
Questions about parks and trails in Colstrip
Where can I hike in Colstrip?
The longest trail networks: Prospector Park, 0.7 miles; Stillwater Park, 0.5 miles; Big Timber Park, 0.4 miles; Winchester Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Colstrip is conserved land?
7% of its land, against a typical 10% for a Montana town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Colstrip’s trails?
Prospector Park and Stillwater Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Colstrip?
5.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 5.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Colstrip?
20,703 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Colstrip or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 125 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Colstrip have?
Ahead of 97% 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 Colstrip 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 →