Parks and Open Spaces Master Plan 2025-2026
About the Master Plan
The Town of Estes Park is working with the community to develop a Parks and Open Spaces Master Plan, which will provide a 20-year roadmap of the community's vision for parks and open spaces. The Master Plan will evaluate the Town’s existing parks and open spaces and identify any investments the Town should consider in the future, including potential new parks. It will provide suggestions for how the Town could accommodate the needs and wants of diverse community interests. It will forecast and identify anticipated future operational and capital needs like staffing and facilities.
Updates throughout the process, including opportunities to get involved, will be posted on this page.
For more information, please contact Parks Division Supervisor Brian Berg at bberg@estes.org or 970-577-3724.
Take the Survey!
We encourage all users of Town parks to complete the Parks and Open Spaces Master Plan Survey. The survey requests feedback on what is working well and any future opportunities to improve the Town’s spaces and system of public spaces. It allows you to evaluate and comment on specific spaces, the entire system, and the operations and maintenance of the system. The survey takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. Your opinions will help create the plan!
The Master Plan will be guided by community feedback, reflecting the diverse viewpoints of those who participate in its development. Concentrated during the summer and fall of 2025, community engagement opportunities will include focus groups, stakeholder interviews, online surveys, community workshops, and youth activities.
The project team aims to gather feedback from all sectors of the community including residents, visitors and businesses, as well as the viewpoints of subject matter experts in the areas of Events, Culture, Visitation, Outdoor Recreation, Natural Resources and the Environment.
Engagement opportunities and progress updates will be available on this page throughout project.
The first step in developing the Parks and Open Spaces Plan was to build a shared context of understanding through a series of focus group discussions on July 17. These sessions brought together stakeholders, subject matter experts, and organizational representatives to discuss three topic areas: Natural Resources and the Environment; Events, Culture and Visitation; and Outdoor Recreation. A separate meeting was also held with Town staff and operations personnel.
The goals were to initiate the project with insight into diverse interests, gain a deeper understanding of concerns, opportunities, values, and needs, and gather input on what is working well, where to consider improvements, potential strategies, and opportunities for coordinated efforts among partners and stakeholders.
In total 26 people participated in the day's meetings. Insights from these discussions will guide future public outreach.
A summary of the discussions is found here: Focus Group Summary.
The Town of Estes Park manages a multitude of parks and open spaces inside Town boundaries. Current parks and open spaces include those located downtown, including but not limited to, Bond Park, Performance Park, Tregent Park, George Hix Riverside Plaza, the Riverwalk, and the Big Thompson Recreation Area. The Town also manages the Thumb Open Space, Centennial Open Space at Knoll-Willows, the Fish Hatchery Property, and Scott Ponds Natural Area.
The Town’s Parks Division is responsible for the management of these places. We also manage beautification projects such as the downtown flower displays, bronze sculptures, recreational amenities, roundabout and streetscaping, trail maintenance, and irrigation systems - to name a few.