Bear Creek Regional Park is county foothills inside the city

With Colorado Springs wrapped around it on every side, Bear Creek Regional Park is easy to mistake for a city park. It is not. All 545 acres are owned and operated by El Paso County — a regional park that happens to sit deep inside the urbanized part of the city rather than out past its edges.

That odd fit is most of the charm. The ground rolls up into the foothills of Pikes Peak, and across it you will find picnic pavilions, playing fields, courts, playgrounds, an archery range, and ten miles of multi-purpose, non-motorized trails. Active recreation and foothills open space share the same parcel, so a soccer game and a quiet hike can be happening a few hundred yards apart.

It also tells you something about how the county does parks. They are not all rural, not all flung out on the eastern plains. Some sit right in the middle of daily city life, handing whole neighborhoods a stretch of foothills to disappear into without anyone having to leave town for the weekend.

Amenities shift over the seasons, so for current trail maps and accessibility details, El Paso County’s park page is the place to look before you go.