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Here are our local Colorado Springs outdoor recreation suggestions to get your family outdoors and excited about adventure camp this summer!
Our mission is to inspire kids to lead active lifestyles, which means staying active even when camp is not in session. We encourage a year-round engagement with the outdoors, so we’ve provided a list of great Colorado Springs outdoor recreation spots. Our hope is to provide local outdoor recreation for families but we welcome your suggestions on best places to play in your community!
Palmer Park
This unique, 700+ acre park is situated in the heart of Colorado Springs, and is complete with amazing views of Pikes Peak and the Rocky Mountains. It has 25 miles of trail with varying degrees of difficulty, allowing users to start on beginner trails and move up to intermediate trails as they feel comfortable. Palmer Park is covered by scrub oak and yuccas, with many sandstone canyons, open meadows, and pine forests, this place is sure to delight. What's awesome about Palmer park, is that it offers outdoor recreation in Colorado Springs year round!
Best Beginner Hiking Trail: Grandview Trail
The name is extremely fitting, as this trail offers views of Pikes Peaks, Garden of the Gods, and a sweet overlook of Colorado Springs. The mile-long southwest route will lead you along an easy path, which dips in and out of the forest. Staying on the Grandview trail you will notice two other small loop options, which essentially bring you off and back onto the trail. Feel free to explore these small loops, as they offer different views and sights. Following the Grandview trail up a small gentle climb, you will eventually come to the Grandview overlook. As the name implies, this outcropping offers fantastic views of the mountains and beyond!
Best Beginner Biking Trail: Grandview Trail
Palmer Park is so expansive and has so many interconnected trails that it is easy to find the perfect trail for you. The starting location for the Grandview Trail will differ from the hiking location, to provide users with a more enjoyable ride. This trail offers beginner features and intermediate features, and some sections with slickrock riding. This is the best part about the trail, you can pick and choose what you want to try and challenge yourself on, or play it safe and walk around anything you don’t want to ride. As you continue along the first half of this trail, you will be following the main park road, eventually taking you past the Sentinel Point trailhead. Continue on the Grandview Trail and end at the Grandview Overlook!
Best Intermediate Biking Trail: Kinnickinnick Trail
This trail is great for bikers looking to ease their way into intermediate trails at Palmer Park. There are two options for accessing the Kinnickinnick trail, which is actually a series of interconnected looped trails. If you want a bit of a warm up, we recommend starting at the North Canyon trailhead and heading east on the Grandview trail. Once you reach the Sentinel point trailhead (second starting location), ride down the gravel road to the main paved road to jump on the Kinnickinnick trails. What’s cool about this trail, is the flexibility it gives riders to make their own loop, ranging anywhere from 1 to 10 miles long!
Don’t Forget:
- Map: With so many awesome trails, be sure to download a map ahead of time
- Blanket: You’ll definitely want to lay out and take a break on these trails
- Picnic Basket: Take advantage of the views and pack a family lunch
North Slope Recreation Area
Nestled up to Pikes Peak and about 20 miles west of the city, you’ll find this marvelous mountain gem! This outdoor recreation spot offers a cool getaway from the summer heat, and will soon become your families favorite. Be prepared for an abundance of natural charm, great scenery, and blissful beauty that is found here.
Discover the outdoor recreation that makes North Slope so great:
- Awesome fishing at 3 cold water reservoirs.
- 10 miles of mountain biking trails at North and South Catamount Reservoirs.
- Hiking and picnicking along shoreline trails.
- Crystal Reservoir self-guided nature trail .
- Kayaking and canoeing galore!
With multi-use trails, stocked fishing, and Pikes Peak in the background, this convenient escape has something for everyone to enjoy!
Avid’s core values – like Live Fun! – encourage a year-round engagement with the outdoors. The values that your kid learns while camping will last them a lifetime, but encouraging a year-round engagement with the outdoors, especially with the whole family, is vital. Luckily, the Colorado Rocky mountains have some of the most exhilarating hikes, trails, and routes in the U.S.!
We couldn’t be more excited to see your kids at camp for even more adventures, and we would love for you to share your photos and stories with us on any of the social media platforms that you find on the bottom of our webpage.
