Stratton Open Space

Was super excited to check this place out because it’s 2 minutes from my place! We went with our dog because of the reviews and it took us about an hour and a half to finally find the lake but we did and it was so worth it! Bring a ball or frisbee or something that floats if your dog likes to swim!

Great place for beginner hikers, dog owners, people not used to the elevation, and people wanting to go for a long walk. Walked about 3 miles total and felt well-​exercised without being too exhausted to stay awake on the ride home. There are a ton of trails to choose from (we kind of wandered without paying much attention to which trail belonged to which loop) but it’s nearly impossible to get lost.
Will be back many times.

Beautiful and not overly challenging hiking area with an abundance of local foliage. Many people walk their dogs there which is wonderful. I have noticed a disturbing trend where people bag their dog poop and then leave bagged dog poop behind. Use your head folks. It’s way better to leave the poop without the bag. OR you could completely remove the bag AND THE POOP like you’re supposed to.

Well, we just moved to the Springs a short while ago and today we were out exploring… We first went to the Bear Creek Dog Park and had a good time playing with other people’s dogs :) Then, decided to go back closer to home and check out a sign we saw for some trails nearby. That’s when we discovered Stratton Open Space right across the street from our new digs!!! We walked to the top of the ridge and from there we could see the Broadmoor, the Will Rogers Shrine (even heard the chimes), our new place, Mini Me (my car baby) in the parking lot, and even my dear friend Lorin’s previous home on Saturn. What a view! And, such a nice walk. There are both standard and hiking trails that are clean and well-​kept. Can’t wait to go back and hike down to the reservoir. What a great place right in my neighborhood, right in our backyard! Lucky ME!!! Lucky US!!!

This has been my hangout for the last week. We’ve had some good memories but I’m bummed since I will be moving up to Denver tomorrow, sigh. Anyways, I completely found this place on accident. I’m GPS-​less and was driving around and damn, saw a sign for trails. I had nothing to do that afternoon and was in hiking appropriate clothes so why not stop off?
Yeah, that was on Sunday last week and have been there three times since then. They have a number of trails for hiking, biking and horse back riding. All the trails have been well marked and maintained but what surprised me is not a lot of people go here. Maybe I’m a novice when it comes to CO places to hike but I think this place is great – beautiful views of the mountains, CO Springs and the Broadmoor right near. Stratton has me wishing I had my dog here with me since every other person I’ve seen here has a canine friend with them and has been über friendly. They have a couple of parking lots, I’ve just used the one off Cheyenne but there looks like there’s one by a high school or middle school near by. The other cool thing about it? Completely free.