New Map Will Help Colorado Parks and Wildlife Fund Communities Lacking Recreation Access

“Every five years, Colorado Parks and Wildlife puts together a comprehensive outdoor recreation plan as a way to get funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund,” explains CPW public information officer Bridget O'Rourke. While coming up with the 2024 to 2028 SCORP draft, the state considered a new Colorado recreation access map developed by the national nonprofit Trust for Public Land, which shows which communities lack access to the outdoors.

“With this tool, CPW and our partners can find information to help us understand where there is access to parks, trails and open space, and where future investments are needed to ensure everyone has outdoor recreation opportunities close to home,” says CPW Director Jeff Davis in a statement.

Trust for Public Land’s key findings reveal that 80 percent of Coloradans live within a half-mile or ten-minute walk of public outdoor recreation spaces, and roughly 99 percent are within a ten-mile drive. These numbers may seem impressive, but the deficit is more obvious in other terms. Considering the statewide population, nearly 1.2 million Coloradans live outside of convenient walking distance to recreation spaces, and roughly 48,000 people are more than a ten-mile drive away.
To determine which municipalities had the largest gaps in access, Trust for Public Land considered the percentage of the population in a given urban area, as well as the city’s total number of residents. By combining these data sets, it concluded that Pueblo West is at the top of the list for Colorado, followed by Woodmoor and Colorado Springs.

In an effort to foster equity and diversity, the project also involved an in-depth analysis of disproportionately impacted communities, or DIC. The state defines these as low-income, housing cost-burdened, linguistically isolated, historically marginalized and cumulatively impacted. They also include communities of color, tribal lands and mobile home parks.

In Denver, 53.8 percent of the population is deemed to live within a DIC. Of this group, 3.7 percent, or 14,640 residents, are outside of a ten-minute walk to outdoor recreation spaces. By this measure, Denver ranks third among Colorado municipalities with the highest number of residents in disproportionately impacted communities. Colorado Springs is second, and Aurora ranks first, with 6.5 percent, or 18,691 DIC residents more than a half-mile walk from parks, trails or water access locations.

O'Rourke acknowledges the importance of the outdoors for mental, physical and emotional health, as well as its cultural relevance. “Part of living in Colorado is embracing that outdoor lifestyle," she says. "If people are unable to get to trails or parks within their neighborhood or their community, then they're missing out on those outdoor opportunities that we know benefit all Coloradans.”