As might be expected, the area features plenty of activity for those who enjoy the great outdoors. There are numerous hiking and biking trails throughout Highlands Ranch. The trail along the historic Highline Canal allows residents to bicycle all the way to downtown Denver. The nearby Wildcat Mountain Reserve has 8,200 acres dedicated to wildlife habitat, open space and outdoor recreation. The South Platte Canyon and river in the southwest offers great fishing and hiking. The Chatfield Reservoir is a popular place for boating and fishing, as is the Cherry Creek Reservoir in Aurora.
There are numerous golf courses in the area. The south central area has the Links Golf Course at Lone Tree and the South Suburban Golf Course. The Arrowhead Golf Course is in the Roxborough area. Grant Ranch has the Raccoon Creek Golf Course. For those seeking indoor activities, there are excellent shopping facilities from the Southwest Mall at Wadsworth and Bowles to the Southglenn Mall and the new Park Meadows Mall.
Accessibility to and from Denver and the south suburbs is excellent. W-470 and I-225 provide access east and west and I-25 provides access north to Denver and to I-70 that runs east and west further north. A new light rail system is being built in the southwest Mineral/Sante Fe corridor that will transport people directly to and from downtown Denver. It's an easy ride to the mountains for skiing, hiking and limited stakes gambling in Central City and Black Hawk.
Douglas County long has been a part of the march of history across the state of Colorado. Midway along the Front Range corridor, where a majority of Colorado's population lives, Douglas County has served as a gateway and a major thoroughfare into Pike's Peak country since 1858. The county was one of the first stops along the route from the east to the western gold fields. The settlement of Russellville was the site of settlers who wished to get a second chance at wealth, a decade after the California Gold Rush of 1848.
This beautiful land, some 844 square miles, is situated nearly in the center of the state. In the southwestern corner of Douglas County is Cheeseman Dam, and west of this serene, native-stone reservoir between Lost Park and Tarryall Creek, lies the geographic center of Colorado. Douglas County's boundaries extend 20 miles on the north, 30 miles on the south and 30 miles in depth.
Elevations range from 5,400 feet along the rolling, windswept prairies in the northeast, to 9,700 feet in the mountainous South Platte River country that's nestled against the Front Range in the southwest.
Two major incorporated towns are the centers of government and commerce in the county. Castle Rock, the county seat, is the largest, with about 18,000 people in a rapidly growing area that is a bedroom community of Denver. As early as 1859, gold seekers, fur trappers, settlers and lumbermen were actively traveling through and settling the Parker area, then called Pine Grove. Parker was incorporated in 1981 and now has a population of about 21,000 people spread around in a variety of residential outskirts-of-town communities.
Much like the days of the pioneers, Douglas County is where the action is. The northern part of the county is home to Highlands Ranch, Colorado's most successful new community. It also is home to one of the newest toll highways in the United States, E-470, which is forming the basis of a transportation "beltway" around southeast metro Denver. Douglas County's booming growth, active economic development agencies and strong real estate community will ensure the county continues to be the focus of the state, both in a historical sense and as a leader into the future.