Glendale Open Space Trail — Attraction in Colorado

Update from July 2023: I really wanted to love the remodel but I am so disappointed. It’s smaller, and half of it is fenced off for conservation. The more energetic boisterous dogs used to be able to run, play, and rough house in the middle of the park so the older or less playful dogs could walk the “trail” just inside the fence line without many incidents. Not anymore. And now my smaller dog can’t really run anywhere because the north side is pretty much all large parking lot gravel except the trail on the east side which has a path made with a finer dirt/gravel mix. The south side is a little better but not much. South side has a sidewalk trail through it and my dog stuck to that rather then exploring the grassy areas and chasing grasshoppers like she used to be able to do. The old park wasn’t perfect, but it was dirt and grass that was easy to play on vs gravel, rock, and cement.

It used to be our favorite park. We’ve been twice and my dog hasn’t enjoyed it either time. To be honest, I don’t enjoy it now either. It doesn’t even feel like a dog park now. I appreciate that the county made it more accessible and that they’re trying to conserve vegetation, but I wonder if they actually spoke to any park goers (or dog owners for that matter) when redesigning it. Maybe it’ll improve over time as more vegetation grows in, but we won’t be back any time soon. After doing a lap, we left and went to a smaller park in Castle Rock where my dog ran her heart out like she should’ve been able to do at Glendale.

Original Review from 2018: We love this park. It’s huge and gives dogs plenty of space, which helps prevent conflicts. My dogs are seniors, so we walk along the fence line. Most of the really rambunctious (I mean that in a good way) and active dogs stay closer to the middle of the park. My dogs get off leash time, opportunity to smell everything (one is a hound), and socialize without getting run over. Lol. The other dog owners are mostly friendly too. We have not had problems with dog feces or trash. There are poop bags and trash buckets all along the fence line. The people that keep up the park go around and empty the buckets regularly. The park also has an agility area if your dog is into that. My only complaint is that sometimes people park like asshats, but you run into that most...

This is a lesser known, but fantastic park. It has a very large dog park, and trails that will take you to the top of the overlooking butte. It's a great little hike that dogs love, too. The geography is unique in the Denver Metro area, and is in part of a large surrounding area where pioneers and gold seekers first settled, as well as where some of the first (terrible) White settlers vs. Native American skirmishes (often quite violent and gory) occured. Historically, you may want to venture farther south to the Franktown area, where the very first White families attempted to settle, but were involved in the worst of the Native American and White men atrocities, which eventually led to Colonel Chivington's Cavalry committing a horrific massacre of over 150 Native Americans (almost all women and children) at Sand Creek, in far southeastern Colorado. The massacre occured despite Territorial Governor John Evan's peace treaty with them, and the obvious white flags flying above their encampment. The Franktown area has many "haunted" locations, where ghosts of both sides may be seen at night. Having lived in that area for several years, I can verify this...

Nice little park on the south side of town, just off the highway. It has plenty of room for the dogs to run and play with it's acres of fenced in space.

Sadly there is little shade and no water for the dogs to romp around in and cool off during the heat of the summer months, so plan accordingly. As in: head out there in the mornings and evenings with the air's a bit cooler.

At the top of hill is a little obstacle course the people who are into fun and games with their canine companions.

The best part in the open space park next to the off leash area. It has easy trails and great views, but the dogs must be on leash as there are the occasional wild animals, such as coyote, prairie dogs and snakes, and cows from a nearby ranch that can get pretty close to the fence.

Also, horses, bicyclists and the occasional runner traverse these open...