Top 10 Easy Hikes in Colorado Springs
We have been to Colorado Springs many times and spent plenty of Saturdays hiking around the area. With so many parks, open spaces, and trails, it’s hard not to find something enjoyable. Here is a guide to our favorite easy hikes in Colorado Springs that are still awesome.
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Because these are on the easier side, they make for great kid-friendly hikes in Colorado Springs. So whether you have out-of-town guests adjusting to the altitude, are a beginner hiker yourself, have little ones, or just want a nice easy way to enjoy the outdoors, you can enjoy these top kid-friendly hikes in Colorado Springs.
Central Garden Trail
Location: Garden of the Gods
Distance: 1.1 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Garden of the Gods is one of, if not the, top attractions in Colorado Springs. The tall, red rock formations throughout the park are stunning.
While it’s possible to set out all day on the trails of Garden of the Gods, families will love the option to park at Central Garden. Then, you can stroll on a paved trail through numerous formations of the park… all within a mile!
Related: Garden of the Gods vs. Red Rocks Park
Seven Bridges
Location: North Cheyenne Canyon
Distance: 3.5 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Seven Bridges Trail is the most fun trail in North Cheyenne Canyon. While it is rated moderate, it’s not terribly difficult. Our kids had a great time on this trail.
One unique thing about this trail is the 7 bridges you cross. The trail follows the North Cheyenne Creek, crossing over back and forth. This is a beautiful, shaded trek through the trees.
The bridges also make a great way for the kids to count down how far they’ve come. It really helps the trail go by faster.
While the trail is marked at 3.5 miles, stopping at the 7th bridge and turning around makes it closer to 3 miles. You can go beyond, but it’s still just a turn around without any other bridges.
Seven Bridges Trail has been one of our favorites!
Greenlee Trail
Location: Red Rock Canyon Open Space
Distance: 1.8 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Greenlee Trail is almost the opposite of the Seven Bridges trail. While Seven Bridges follows a creek in the shaded forest, Greenlee is in the wide, open, lots of shrubs but also slightly barren open space.
The scenery is just as stunning, but in a completely different way. You’ll hike among sand and red rock at Red Rock Canyon Open Space. The whole open space is basically just one big circular set of trails that all interconnect in some way. Take an inner loop for a shorter hike or the outer loop for a longer hike.
Tip: Not to be confused with Red Rocks Park up near Denver.
Greenlee is a great trail to take with kids. It’s made slightly of the Mesa Trail and ends as the Red Rock Canyon Trail, but by taking Greenlee in-between, you’ll set yourselves on the innermost loop of Red Rock Canyon.
Expect to see red rock everywhere, and make sure to look in the distance to get a glimpse of Garden of the Gods.
If you are up for a bigger, slightly more difficult (but still not too difficult) hike, explore around the other interconnecting trails. We were able to find some cool areas, including a staircase carved into the red rock that connected to another trail.
Grandview Trail
Location: Palmer Park
Distance: 1.8 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Palmer Park is an interesting area. Or rather, a surprising area. You are driving in the middle of a city area and all of a sudden come to an open space that gains elevation up to hiking areas… all while being surrounded by shops and residences.
That makes Palmer Park very accessible and convenient.
There are many places to park around the park and gain access to the trail at any point. One of the most obvious places to park is right at the Grand View Lookout.
This starts you at a phenomenal view right away. But as you hike along Grand View and eventually the West Cheyenne Trail, you’ll get all sorts of great views.
Palmer Park is great in that it provides plenty of shade and isn’t too difficult of terrain. The trails interconnect quite a bit, but most all end up in the same circular pattern.
Sentinel Point
Location: Palmer Park
Distance: 3 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Again, in Palmer Park you can kinda mix and match trails. For an easy, 3 mile loop to get to Sentinel Point, you can use the same trail above as a starting point (at Grandview Overlook) but then expand your loop wider to reach Sentinel Point.
Sentinel Point is a gorgeous lookout spot in Palmer Park. You’ll stand atop smooth sandstone rock as you lookout both to Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak in the distance. It gives a similar view with a slightly different perspective than the Grandview stop.
The trail isn’t very difficult and has plenty of shade for the majority of the way.
Siamese Twins Loop
Location: Garden of the Gods
Distance: .5 Miles
Difficulty: Easy
Getting to Siamese Twins doesn’t happen on a nice smooth trail like the Central Garden trail. But, it’s an easy trail that’s also short, making it perfect to bring kids or visitors to.
The crowning gem of this trail is the rock formation named Siamese Twins. These red rocks stand narrow and tall right next to each other.
Helen Hunt Falls
Location: North Cheyenne Canyon
Distance: .1 Miles
Difficulty: Easy
Helen Hunt Falls is a super easy waterfall to get to in North Cheyenne Canyon. Honestly, it doesn’t even require a hike. This is one of the easiest things to do in Colorado Springs for beauty without any effot.
But one of the best ways to see it is from above. This requires just a short walk and a flight of stairs to get to.
The falls is right next to a great visitor center that explains the history of the canyon and the impact that Helen Hunt (not to be confused with the actress) had on the area.
If you’d like a bonus, you can hike about another 1/4 mile beyond to Silver Cascades. It gets a little steep, but is short and fine for the kids.
Fox Run Loop Trail
Location: Fox Run Regional Park
Distance: 3.1 Miles
Difficulty: Easy
Fox Run Regional Park is another little fun surprise within Colorado Springs. This park has a playground, huge spaces for playing, a few ponds, and hiking trails within the woods. It’s pretty awesome.
The trails head around the area, through the trees, and around the ponds. This is really fun for kids to explore.
At the ponds, make sure to look for the giant, bright fish in the waters.
This is another one of those trails that you can kind of mix and match your way through the trail system, creating a shorter route if you’d rather.
High Arches (and Ute Valley Trail)
Location: Ute Valley Regional Park
Distance: 1.5 Miles
Difficulty: Easy
Hit the dirt trails at Ute Valley Regional Park. The Ute Valley Loop is a beautiful way to see some of the area and wetlands. High Arches Trail is one of the shortest trails in the park, located on the northwest side.
High Arches is an easy, relatively smooth trail. Summer will bring plenty of vibrant sunflowers and wildflowers to enjoy as you hike. Part of the route is on the Ute Valley Trail. Some of trail is shaded, but you’ll want a hat for the parts that aren’t.
The cool part about High Arches trail is that you’ll come across a natural arch that you can duck under and go through.
Zook Loop
Location: Cheyenne Mountain State Park
Distance: 1.1 Miles
Difficulty: Easy
Zook Loop is a short, easy loop in Cheyenne Mountain State Park. (Despite all the awesome local spaces, we had to get a state park in here!) Zook is a fairly flat, east, dirt/gravel trail that makes a loop around the open space.
Summer hikers will be treated to wildflowers and close observation may lead you to some unique local birds.
Zook Loop leads to a rock garden where you can take a rest and just enjoy the nature around you.
Where to Stay in Colorado Springs
Coming from out of town? The very best place for families to stay is at Great Wolf Lodge, home of entertainment and a humongous indoor waterpark.
If you don’t need the extra entertainment, then head to Cheyenne Mountain Resort. It’s typically more affordable than Great Wolf, but still delivers a high-quality, family-friendly experience on a beautiful property.
Best Easy Hikes in Colorado Springs
For as large of a city as Colorado Springs is, it really has some great hiking areas and open spaces. We have loved getting to hike through different parts of the Springs and enjoying the many different settings.
While we enjoy a nice moderate hike, sometimes it’s nice to take the kids on one of the easy hikes in Colorado Springs. They are quick, easy, but still tons of fun.
So plan your next hiking adventure with one of these kid-friendly hikes in Colorado Springs and enjoy something unique, but not overwhelming with the whole family!
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