Aug 19, 2026

11 Completely Free Things to Do in Colorado Springs With Your Dog

The most famous attraction in Colorado Springs charges nothing, the best dog park charges nothing, and the city runs seven free off-leash areas. Eleven places that cost only fuel.

Luis ZamoraCo-founder of PetCompass; Dog Dad to Banzo and Tuck

Colorado Springs, Colorado11 min readThings to Do

Colorado Springs is unusually generous to dog owners on a budget, and the reason is structural rather than accidental. The city's most famous attraction charges nothing, the county's best dog park charges nothing, and the city runs seven off-leash areas that are all free to use.

Everything on this list costs nothing to enter. Where a place has a fee for something adjacent, such as a state park vehicle pass, it is flagged rather than buried.

The eleven, at a glance

#	Place	Cost	Off-leash
1	Garden of the Gods	Free, including driving through	Leashed, with one mapped exception
2	Bear Creek Dog Park	Free	Yes, 25 fenced acres
3	Red Rock Canyon Open Space	Free	Two dog loops only
4	Antlers Park Downtown Dog Park	Free	Yes, fenced
5	Palmer Park, Yucca Flats	Free	Yes, unfenced
6	Palmer Park, old baseball field	Free	Yes, fenced
7	Rampart Park dog park	Free	Yes, fenced
8	Cheyenne Meadows Park dog park	Free	Yes, fenced
9	Garden of the Gods Visitor Center pet area	Free	Leashed
10	Starsmore Visitor and Nature Center area	Free	Leashed
11	Downtown walking, Old Colorado City	Free	Leashed

1. Garden of the Gods, free in every sense

The headline attraction charges nothing. The park's own site states that "The Garden of the Gods Park & The Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center are both free and open to the public," and the park rules add that "The Park is free to drive through in your own vehicle."

Dogs are welcome on at least a six foot leash at all times, and all waste must be removed. The park opens at 5 a.m. all year and closes at 10 p.m. from May 1 to October 31, an hour earlier at 9 p.m. from November 1 to April 30, which makes an early summer walk on cool stone entirely possible.

Address 1805 N. 30th Street, phone 719-634-6666. The Visitor and Nature Center keeps shorter hours, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer, from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in winter, closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

2. Bear Creek Dog Park, 25 free acres

This is the best free thing on the list if your dog wants to run. El Paso County Parks describes it as "El Paso County's most visited park site with more than 100,000 visitors a year."

Twenty-five fenced off-leash acres inside Bear Creek Regional Park, established 1997, open year-round. The county describes the ground as "open prairie, hills, woods and a 1/3-mile-long stretch of Bear Creek."

Free facilities include a separate two-acre small dog and senior dog area, miles of walking trails, creek access, an agility training area installed in 2014, dog drinking fountains, a dog washing area and complimentary cleanup bags.

Hours are dawn to dusk. Restrooms sit just inside the gate and stay open year round. From I-25 take exit 141, west on Highway 24 to 21st Street, then south about a mile to West Rio Grande Street.

3. Red Rock Canyon Open Space, two dog loops

Free open space with genuine off-leash provision. The city's Red Rock Canyon page lists "Upper and Lower dog loops (off-leash dog areas)" among its trails.

The rest of the property is leashed. The city describes "Dirt trails for pedestrians, bikes, horses and leashed dogs (on trails other than the off-leash areas)." Amenities include a picnic pavilion and portable toilets at both main parking lots.

Two loops, not one, which is worth knowing because most write-ups mention a single area.

4. Antlers Park, the free downtown fence

Walkable from a downtown hotel, which makes it free in time as well as money. From the city's Antlers Dog Park page, the space "includes two separate play areas, one for small dogs and another for larger dogs, and features a large fence with double gates, synthetic turf, a sitting area, play amenities and a dog water station."

Double gates matter for a dog that rushes the exit. Synthetic turf matters after an afternoon storm.

5, 6, 7 and 8. The four remaining city off-leash areas

All free, and the city sorts them by whether they are fenced. From the city's dog parks page, the unfenced ones are called dog runs and the fenced ones dog parks.

Palmer Park, Yucca Flats. An unfenced dog run.
Palmer Park, old baseball field. Fenced, and 0.3 miles from the Maizeland entrance, so budget the walk in.
Rampart Park. Fenced, just east of the baseball diamond, on the north side of town.
Cheyenne Meadows Park. Fenced, south portion, a native grass area off Charmwood Dr and Canoe Creek Dr.

The shared rules are free to follow but easy to breach. No more than three dogs per person. A person at least 16 years of age inside the enclosure. Dogs leashed until inside. And the one that catches visitors: "Pinch (prong) and spike collars must be removed prior to entering the enclosure." Bring a flat buckle collar.

The city also publishes a free Garden of the Gods dog map and policies sheet, which maps the unenclosed dog run there and cites the two city ordinances behind the leash and waste rules, 9.9.302 and 9.9.301.

9. The designated pet area at the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center

Small, free, and genuinely useful after a drive. The park's dog rules note that "Doggie cleanup bags are available at the Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center in the designated pet area."

That is a first stop rather than a destination. A dog that has been in a car for two hours benefits from a defined patch of ground before it meets the main loop and the crowds.

10. Starsmore Visitor and Nature Center, at the canyon mouth

Free to visit, and the gateway to North Cheyenne Canon. The city maintains a Starsmore Visitor and Nature Center page for it.

We are deliberately not stating the dog rules for the canyon trails here, because we could not verify them from a primary source, and the city's general position is that City Code requires dogs to be leashed in city parks and on city trails. Treat it as leashed ground and check the signage at the visitor center, which is free to walk into.

11. Walking downtown and Old Colorado City

Costs nothing and needs no plan. Downtown Colorado Springs and Old Colorado City are both walkable historic districts, and a leashed dog is unremarkable on either.

This is the low-effort option for a hot afternoon or a tired dog. It also puts you near patios, and Colorado law permits a restaurant to seat your dog in an outdoor dining area under seven conditions in C.R.S. 25-4-1615, the most restrictive being that the patio needs its own outside entrance.

Window shopping is free and the statute is a useful filter while you do it. Look for a courtyard with a gate onto the pavement rather than a terrace reached through the dining room, because only the first kind can legally seat your dog. The same statute keeps the dog off the furniture and on a lead, so a folded towel in your bag turns any qualifying patio into a comfortable stop at no cost.

One caution that costs nothing to observe. City Code requires dogs to be leashed in city parks and on city trails, and that applies on a downtown pavement as much as in a park. The free off-leash areas are the named exceptions, not the default.

What is not free, so you can plan around it

Cheyenne Mountain State Park charges. Per Colorado Parks and Wildlife, a daily vehicle pass is $10 to $15 and an individual daily pass is $4. Leashed dogs are permitted on approximately 2 miles of designated trails only, named as Acorn Alley, Bobcat Way, Raccoon Ridge and a portion of Soaring Kestrel, and the park states that dogs are not allowed on any other trails or in the backcountry.

Pikes Peak charges. Timed-entry reservations carry a $2 non-refundable fee, and admission applies on top. Neither the Cog Railway nor the shuttle takes pets in any case.

Florissant Fossil Beds is free of use to you but not to your dog. The National Park Service states that "Pets are prohibited on ALL trails" and in the visitor center, with leashed pets allowed only in the parking lot and a pet exercise area near the picnic area.

Building a free day

Morning at Bear Creek, midday indoors or in shade, late afternoon at Garden of the Gods. That sequence uses the two best free places at the two best times, and avoids the middle of the day when red rock and pavement are at their worst.

Bring your own water, because free places do not always have working fountains in winter. Bear Creek publishes dog drinking fountains among its facilities, but a dawn visit in January is not the time to discover a seasonal shutoff. Bring a flat collar for the fenced parks. And check surface temperature with the back of your hand before committing to a walk. Our summer heat safety for pets guide covers the test, and our cold weather pet safety guide covers the winter equivalent.

If your dog is new to shared off-leash space, our dog park etiquette guide is worth five minutes before you open a gate.

Where to stay, and one thing to look up first

Our pet-friendly hotels in Colorado Springs page lists what each property charges and allows, and the wider PetCompass hotel directory covers the region. The official Visit Colorado Springs site is worth checking for events that might crowd a free park on the day you go.

Conclusion

Eleven free places, and the two best of them are the ones with the biggest reputations. Garden of the Gods costs nothing to enter or drive through, and Bear Creek gives you 25 fenced acres with creek access for the same price.

Download the city dog map, pack a flat buckle collar, go early in summer, and you have a full Colorado Springs dog trip that costs nothing but fuel.

Frequently asked questions

Is Garden of the Gods free with a dog?

Yes. The park states that both the park and the Visitor and Nature Center are free and open to the public, and that the park is free to drive through in your own vehicle. Dogs are welcome on at least a six foot leash at all times.

What is the best free dog park in Colorado Springs?

Bear Creek Dog Park, run by El Paso County. It is 25 fenced off-leash acres with a separate two-acre small dog and senior dog area, creek access, an agility area, dog drinking fountains and a dog washing area, and the county calls it its most visited park site with more than 100,000 visitors a year.

How many free off-leash areas does Colorado Springs have?

Seven run by the city, three unfenced dog runs and four fenced dog parks, plus El Paso County's Bear Creek Dog Park. All are free to use.

Are Colorado Springs dog parks free?

Yes. The city's dog runs and dog parks carry no entry fee, and neither does El Paso County's Bear Creek Dog Park.

Do I need anything special for Colorado Springs dog parks?

A flat buckle collar. The city's rules require that pinch and spike collars be removed before entering an enclosure, and recommend a basic flat buckle collar with license, rabies and identification tags. The cap is three dogs per person and an accompanying person must be at least 16.

What are Bear Creek Dog Park's hours?

Dawn to dusk, per El Paso County. Restrooms just inside the gate are open year round.

Sources

Fees, hours and park rules change. Confirm with the managing agency before you rely on any of it.