Year-round recreation opportunities for energetic bodies.
Colorado's sunny, temperate climate makes year-round outdoor recreation possible. With 41 state parks and four national parks in Metro Denver's back yard, prime recreation opportunities abound for biking, hiking, golfing, camping, fishing, or skiing.
Recreational Amenities
- More than 100 public and private golf courses are located in Metro Denver. In addition, 11 world-class ski resorts are within 100 miles.
- The City and County of Denver maintains more than 200 city and mountain parks and eight state parks in or immediately outside of the seven county Metro Denver region.
- State, federal, and local government entities in the Denver Regional Council of Governments' metropolitan planning area, which includes most of the seven-county region, have preserved more than 374,000 acres of open space for future generations to enjoy.
- The Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) Amendment to the state constitution gives a portion of state lottery proceeds to projects that preserve, protect, and enhance Colorado's outdoors. GOCO has invested in 3,400 projects throughout Colorado since its inception.
- Colorado State Parks, with support from many Metro Denver counties and communities, has an ambitious plan to create a continuous trail linking the Front Range's diverse communities with a multi-use trail running from New Mexico to Wyoming. The Colorado Front Range Trail (CFRT) will link existing and planned trail systems with new trail corridors to create an extensive pathway system that connects Colorado's population centers.
- One of the longest recreational trails in the Metro Denver area, the High Line Canal Trail, runs 66 miles connecting Douglas, Arapahoe, and Denver Counties.
Helpful links:
Metro Denver Open Space websites (by county)
Adams County Open Space | Arapahoe County Recreation District | Boulder County Open Space
City and County of Broomfield Open Space | City and County of Denver Parks & Recreation District
Douglas County Parks and Trails Division | Jefferson County Open Space
Northern Colorado Open Space websites (by county)
Larimer County Parks and Open Lands | Upstate Colorado (Weld County) Outdoor Recreation