William F. Hayden Park Plan

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Elevate your everyday at William F. Hayden Park, Lakewood's popular regional park destination providing access to nature and an opportunity get outdoors and take in the views! Join us for a community conversation to better understand the park's wildlife and natural resources while gaining valuable insight into what park visitors love and what they would like to see improved.

Managed by the City of Lakewood, the park is beginning a comprehensive planning process that will include an assessment of park visitor needs, an evaluation of park trails and infrastructure, environmental review, recreation management, and design work for future park and trail improvements. These will be packaged into an implementable action plan to serve visitors for the next decade. The city hired DHM Design to lead the projected 12-month planning effort, which will include an extensive public engagement process with park visitors and stakeholders.

About William F. Hayden Park

With more than 2,400 acres of open space, William Frederick Hayden Park on Green Mountain is the second largest park in Lakewood. The park features a challenging network of shared use trails, with a 6,800-foot summit up Green Mountain Trail offering unique and stunning views of the Denver metropolitan area to the east and high mountain peaks to the west.

Beginning 1972, the majority of William Frederick Hayden Park was donated by or purchased from the Hayden family. Once home to the buffalo, this park now provides rich habitat for a diverse array of wildlife including coyotes, hawks, rattlesnakes, bluebirds, rabbit, mule deer and an occasional mountain lion.


Graphic image of William F. Hayden Park logo

We want to hear from you!

Subscribe to this page for updates, meeting notices and other opportunities to participate in the future of this special park. Use the tools below to ask a question of the project team or share an idea for the park.

Join the Community Conversation

Elevate your everyday at William F. Hayden Park, Lakewood's popular regional park destination providing access to nature and an opportunity get outdoors and take in the views! Join us for a community conversation to better understand the park's wildlife and natural resources while gaining valuable insight into what park visitors love and what they would like to see improved.

Managed by the City of Lakewood, the park is beginning a comprehensive planning process that will include an assessment of park visitor needs, an evaluation of park trails and infrastructure, environmental review, recreation management, and design work for future park and trail improvements. These will be packaged into an implementable action plan to serve visitors for the next decade. The city hired DHM Design to lead the projected 12-month planning effort, which will include an extensive public engagement process with park visitors and stakeholders.

About William F. Hayden Park

With more than 2,400 acres of open space, William Frederick Hayden Park on Green Mountain is the second largest park in Lakewood. The park features a challenging network of shared use trails, with a 6,800-foot summit up Green Mountain Trail offering unique and stunning views of the Denver metropolitan area to the east and high mountain peaks to the west.

Beginning 1972, the majority of William Frederick Hayden Park was donated by or purchased from the Hayden family. Once home to the buffalo, this park now provides rich habitat for a diverse array of wildlife including coyotes, hawks, rattlesnakes, bluebirds, rabbit, mule deer and an occasional mountain lion.


Graphic image of William F. Hayden Park logo

We want to hear from you!

Subscribe to this page for updates, meeting notices and other opportunities to participate in the future of this special park. Use the tools below to ask a question of the project team or share an idea for the park.

Ask a question

Have a question about the William F. Hayden Park planning effort? Ask the project team here.

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  • Share I saw the proposal from COMBA that included many new trails. I’m a mountain biker, but also a trail runner and wildlife photographer. I think their proposal goes too far and would likely have a negative impact on mile deer and elk distribution abundance and behavior. The “sensitive habitat areas” identified on their map do not align with my experiences of the much broader distribution of critical habitat used by a number of species throughout the park. Does the city have a wildlife biologist hired to assist the planning team and disclose to the public the impacts of any new trail development on wildlife? on Facebook Share I saw the proposal from COMBA that included many new trails. I’m a mountain biker, but also a trail runner and wildlife photographer. I think their proposal goes too far and would likely have a negative impact on mile deer and elk distribution abundance and behavior. The “sensitive habitat areas” identified on their map do not align with my experiences of the much broader distribution of critical habitat used by a number of species throughout the park. Does the city have a wildlife biologist hired to assist the planning team and disclose to the public the impacts of any new trail development on wildlife? on Twitter Share I saw the proposal from COMBA that included many new trails. I’m a mountain biker, but also a trail runner and wildlife photographer. I think their proposal goes too far and would likely have a negative impact on mile deer and elk distribution abundance and behavior. The “sensitive habitat areas” identified on their map do not align with my experiences of the much broader distribution of critical habitat used by a number of species throughout the park. Does the city have a wildlife biologist hired to assist the planning team and disclose to the public the impacts of any new trail development on wildlife? on Linkedin Email I saw the proposal from COMBA that included many new trails. I’m a mountain biker, but also a trail runner and wildlife photographer. I think their proposal goes too far and would likely have a negative impact on mile deer and elk distribution abundance and behavior. The “sensitive habitat areas” identified on their map do not align with my experiences of the much broader distribution of critical habitat used by a number of species throughout the park. Does the city have a wildlife biologist hired to assist the planning team and disclose to the public the impacts of any new trail development on wildlife? link

    I saw the proposal from COMBA that included many new trails. I’m a mountain biker, but also a trail runner and wildlife photographer. I think their proposal goes too far and would likely have a negative impact on mile deer and elk distribution abundance and behavior. The “sensitive habitat areas” identified on their map do not align with my experiences of the much broader distribution of critical habitat used by a number of species throughout the park. Does the city have a wildlife biologist hired to assist the planning team and disclose to the public the impacts of any new trail development on wildlife?

    Jordan asked 11 days ago

    Thank you for your comments and for sharing your perspective based on your experience in the park. We would appreciate any input you have on where you frequently see the two species. The sensitive habitat areas identified in the COMBA maps have come from the project teams in-house analysis but only consider a small component of our overall data and field review. They have displayed sensitive contiguous habitat areas and sensitive riparian drainages. 

    The project team has since completed a more thorough Recreation Suitability Analysis that is based on targeted field surveys completed by the project ecologist and datasets from various state and federal agencies regarding wildlife. This review has used over 20 datasets as inputs to identify areas that have low recreation suitability and high conservation value. The analysis includes sensitive elk and mule deer habitat ranges as outlined by the CPW Species Activity Mapping Dataset and drainages that are considered potential fawning/calving habitat and movement corridors for the two species.

    Additionally, the City of Lakewood has mapped occurrences of mule deer and elk dating back several years. This last data set was not included in the Recreation Suitability Analysis; however we have considered it in our trail alignment recommendations. A preference for certain areas of the park by mule deer and elk has been noted and considered in our planning process. 

    Colorado Parks and Wildlife has been engaged throughout the planning process and has participated in stakeholder meetings. CPW staff have reviewed the field documentation and analysis prepared by the project ecologist, and the consultant team has coordinated directly with CPW to obtain and interpret additional site-specific information related to mule deer and elk distribution and seasonal use. This coordination is intended to ensure that wildlife considerations are fully integrated into trail planning and that potential impacts are appropriately evaluated and disclosed as the project moves forward. 

    We welcome you to join us at the Open House on Jan. 29 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Green Mountain Recreation Center where this more detailed information will be provided. If you can't make the meeting, the presentation boards will be posted on the project page following the meeting.

  • Share What about equestrians? Bike riders are worried about records.. im worried about my safety. Ever been on a scared thousand pounds animal that just had a bike fly by it from behind? We would love some equestrian only trails. Or days, what about doing it like apex where there are biking days and hiking/horse days? on Facebook Share What about equestrians? Bike riders are worried about records.. im worried about my safety. Ever been on a scared thousand pounds animal that just had a bike fly by it from behind? We would love some equestrian only trails. Or days, what about doing it like apex where there are biking days and hiking/horse days? on Twitter Share What about equestrians? Bike riders are worried about records.. im worried about my safety. Ever been on a scared thousand pounds animal that just had a bike fly by it from behind? We would love some equestrian only trails. Or days, what about doing it like apex where there are biking days and hiking/horse days? on Linkedin Email What about equestrians? Bike riders are worried about records.. im worried about my safety. Ever been on a scared thousand pounds animal that just had a bike fly by it from behind? We would love some equestrian only trails. Or days, what about doing it like apex where there are biking days and hiking/horse days? link

    What about equestrians? Bike riders are worried about records.. im worried about my safety. Ever been on a scared thousand pounds animal that just had a bike fly by it from behind? We would love some equestrian only trails. Or days, what about doing it like apex where there are biking days and hiking/horse days?

    Jms1920 asked 20 days ago

    Thank you for your feedback, your comments have been provided to the project team. Sustainable and equitable use of the park is a top priority of this planning effort. 

  • Share How do you subscribe to this page? on Facebook Share How do you subscribe to this page? on Twitter Share How do you subscribe to this page? on Linkedin Email How do you subscribe to this page? link

    How do you subscribe to this page?

    David asked 28 days ago

    Hi there, on the right-side bar, scroll down to the Subscribe button. You will need to be logged in or register with LakewoodTogether.org to receive the emailed updates. 

  • Share Please please please consider direction based single use trails or alternating days similar to Apex. This will reduce trail conflict on Facebook Share Please please please consider direction based single use trails or alternating days similar to Apex. This will reduce trail conflict on Twitter Share Please please please consider direction based single use trails or alternating days similar to Apex. This will reduce trail conflict on Linkedin Email Please please please consider direction based single use trails or alternating days similar to Apex. This will reduce trail conflict link

    Please please please consider direction based single use trails or alternating days similar to Apex. This will reduce trail conflict

    Dh1977 asked about 1 month ago

    Thank you for your feedback! Your comment has been provided to the project team. 

Page last updated: 29 Dec 2025, 12:12 PM