South Valley Park: Hidden Red Rock Gem

ByChristine Updated on

South Valley Park is set in the gorgeous Ken Caryl valley east of downtown Denver, Colorado. It is an incredibly scenic park with views of the foothills, craggy cliffsides, and dramatic red outcroppings.

It’s great because it’s easy to get to and free to enter, with fairly easy to moderate trails for all ages.

South Valley Park can be easy to miss because of several other more popular and well-known parks with red rocks in the area. We like that when we’ve been there it hasn’t been as busy as those other places. You should definitely make time to go here as well!

DISCLAIMER: This post may contain links to affiliate websites. When you click on and/or make a purchase through an affiliate link placed on our website, we may receive a small commission or other form of compensation at no additional cost to you. Please read our disclaimer for more info.

Hiking in South Valley Park

A woman in a white and red winter coat stands on a trail with her leashed black dog. The trail goes downhill through a snow covered landscape of red rock outcroppings at South Valley Park.

Of the hiking trails here, walking the Coyote Song Trail and Swallow Trail are our favorites. It’s easiest if you pick one of these two trails or the Valley View Trail to take either out and back, or head out on one and loop back on another.

The total mileage you’ll hike ends up being somewhere around 3 miles. There are 7.8 miles of trails in South Valley Park total.

Be aware you’ll also see bikes and horses on some of these trails as well.

Bring The Kids

South Valley Park is a great one to bring the whole family to. The trails are fairly wide and level. Everything is wide open so you can keep your kiddos in sight easily. I’d say it’s doable with a stroller if you have one that is built for more rugged terrain. Your kids can also bring a bike.

Things to Know

Location

South Valley Park is located in Littleton, Colorado east of downtown Denver, between Ken Caryl and Deer Creek. Here you are so close to everything in the metro area but with views like this it feels like you’re much further away from the city.

Fees

There are no entrance fees or parking fees at this park since it is a Jefferson County Open Space park.

Parking

You have two options for parking at this park. You can either park on the north end at the Swallow Trail parking or on the south end at the South Valley Park South Trailhead depending on which direction you are coming from.

Restrooms

Both the north and south parking lots have restrooms available.

Picnic Facilities

Head to the north parking lot if you want picnic tables and shelters to use. There are no picnic facilities at the south parking lot.

Pets

On-leash pets are allowed to hike with you here. We’ve taken our dog here before as well.

Other Nearby Parks

We highly recommend seeing more red rocks at Roxborough State Park in the summer or in winter with snow covered red rocks. And of course you can’t miss hiking at Red Rocks park and amphitheater.

Christine is the co-founder of Never Stop Adventuring, and an avid traveler who started traveling the world as a child growing up in a military family. She even lived in Germany for numerous years. Since then she has been to 48 U.S. states, 17 countries, and traveled the U.S. in an RV for over 7 years.

With her 3 kids, the adventures continued family travel style. She has planned and coordinated travel with kids for the last 10 years and shares family travel tips and tricks, destinations, costs and even the mistakes so you can be empowered to take your own family trips with confidence!