Staunton State Park

State Park in Pine, CO

Hours:

Park: Daily, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Entrance Fees:

Daily Vehicle Pass: $​10
Individual Daily Pass: $4

Animals Permitted:

  • Leashed Dogs
  • Service Animals
  • Horses

Park Address:

12102 S. Elk Creek Road
Pine, CO 80470
United States

Contact:

303-816-0912

[email protected]

A stony path through thick forest.

Staunton State Park

State Park in Pine, CO

A stony path through thick forest.

Hours:

Park: Daily, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Entrance Fees:

Daily Vehicle Pass: $​10
Individual Daily Pass: $4

Animals Permitted:

  • Leashed Dogs
  • Service Animals
  • Horses

Park Address:

12102 S. Elk Creek Road
Pine, CO 80470
United States

Contact:

303-816-0912

[email protected]

Navigate to:

Low Water Levels - Davis Pond

For dam safety, water levels have been lowered in the lower Davis pond. Accessing the pond from the east shoreline will be difficult, so please instead fish the upper pond or within the rip-rap of the lower pond. Low water levels will continue throughout this winter.

Jagged mountains partially covered with pine trees

Jagged mountains partially covered with pine trees

Welcome to Staunton State Park

Staunton State Park offers diverse landscapes, ranging from grassy meadows at 8,100 feet to granite cliffs over 10,000 feet, supporting unique plant communities and a wide array of wildlife. This diverse landscape opens up countless possibilities for outdoor activities.

3,988

acres

25

campsites

25

picnic sites

37

miles of trails

Directions

Accessing the Park

From Denver
Take US Highway 285 south to Shaffers Crossing, about six miles west of Conifer. Turn north on Elk Creek Road and follow the signs 1.5 miles to the park entrance.

On busy weekends, the Lazy V parking lot fills up early in the morning. Please plan ahead. Parking in this lot is not guaranteed when we reach capacity. Park Rangers will evaluate availability on a 15-20 minute cycle. Please utilize all other parking areas.

    The Staunton Visitor Center​ is located on the southeast side of the park on the park entrance road off Elk Creek Road.

    Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.  

    There are two electric vehicle charging stations located in the Visitor Center parking lot. 

    Fees and Passes

    Daily Vehicle Pass

    Single vehicle and its occupants

    1 Day

    $10

    Individual Daily Pass

    For individual entry on foot, bicycle, horseback, etc at select parks

    1 Day

    $4

    Keep Colorado Wild Pass

    DMV vehicle registration renewal option for Colorado residents

    12 Months

    $29

    Annual Vehicle Pass (Affixed)

    Pass for a single vehicle and its occupants

    12 Months

    $80

    Family Annual Pass (Hang Tag)

    Members of the same household

    12 Months

    $120

    Aspen Leaf Annual Pass

    Visitors 64+

    12 Months

    $70

    Centennial Pass

    Income-eligible Colorado residents

    12 Months

    $14

    Columbine Pass

    Colorado residents with disabilities

    12 Months

    $14

    Veterans License Plate

    DMV vehicle registration renewal option for military veterans (disabled veterans or purple heart plates)

    Lifetime

    Free

    Independence Lifetime Pass

    Colorado resident veterans with disabilities

    Lifetime

    Free

    Blue Spruce Pass

    Colorado resident first responders with disabilities

    Lifetime

    $10

    Nature and Wildlife

    The park has a mix of grasslands, foothills, cliffs and streams, creating a varied landscape. With an elevation gradient of over 2,000 feet, diverse terrain and water features, the park is home to many different plant and animal communities.

    Be on the Lookout for Birds

    Can you spot all the resident and visiting bird species? Download the Bird List Brochure (PDF).

      Birds You Might Find

      • American Robin
      • Hose Wren
      • Osprey
      • Downy Woodpecker
      American robin eating crab apples

      American robin eating crab apples.

      Mammals You Might Find

      • Elk
      • Least Chipmunk
      • Pacific Marten
      • Coyote
      A coyote standing in dry grass looking towards the camera

      A coyote standing in dry grass looking towards the camera.

      Reptiles and Amphibians You Might Find

      • Western Terrestrial Garter Snake

      Geology at This Park

      Most of the park lies on a large granite formation called the Pikes Peak batholiths. Formed as the Earth's crust was pushed up from below its hot liquid core, this batholith intruded into Precambrian metamorphic rocks. Millennia of uplift and erosion exposed the granite and eroded away most of the Precambrian rocks. Different rates of erosion created spectacular groupings of granite cliffs and outcrops like Lions Head, Chimney Rock, Elk Creek Spires and Staunton Rocks.

      The rock found throughout the park has unique colors, shades and sparkles. Please leave rocks where you found them and do not take them home for your own collection.​

      A large rock outcropping with pine trees

      A large rock outcropping with pine trees.

      Habitats and Plants at This Park

      The variety of terrain and soils of Staunton State Park supports extensive vegetation diversity and complexity typical of Colorado Front Range mountains. In the upper montane forests, which cover the vast majority of the park, there are ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, Englemann spruce, limber pine and aspen scattered throughout the park.

      Interspersed with the forest are several lush meadow wetlands and drier montane grassland communities. Riparian trees, and shrubs and wetland vegetation dominate the stream corridors.

      Wildflowers are abundant throughout the park. Join one of our naturalist-led wildflower hikes to learn more about the plant life in the park. To help preserve their beauty for future generations, please do not pick the wildflowers or plants.

      Wildflowers beside a trail

      Wildflowers beside a trail.

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      History

      The first parcel that would become part of Staunton was donated in 1986 by Frances Hornbrook Staunton.

      What we know today as the park’s approximately 3,828 acres are made up of parcels of land acquired over the years. The properties that make up the park are rich in human history, having supported a variety of uses, including:

      • Homesteading and a family retreat in the middle of the park site
      • Ranching on the southern portions of the site
      • Logging and a turn-of-the-20th-century sawmill in the northern part of the site
      • A sportsman's club on the western side of the site

      The first 1,720-acre parcel was donated to Colorado Parks and Wildlife in 1986 by Frances Hornbrook Staunton, daughter of Drs. Rachel and Archibald Staunton, who homesteaded the land beginning around the turn of the 20th century.

      Subsequent parcels, including a portion of the Davis Ranch and Elk Falls property, were acquired in the late 1990s.

      In 2006, a small key parcel, called the Chase property, was added to the park to reach its current land base of approximately 3,828 acres. This parcel was once owned by Mary Coyle Chase, a Denver native, journalist and playwright best known for her play Harvey, which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1945.

      In November 2014, former Colorado State Senator and Representative Allen Dines donated 80 acres and his family vacation home to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. It was the last private property surrounded by the park. This acquisition allowed for rerouting of the Staunton Ranch trail and an area for hike-in tent campsites. It remains a corridor for wildlife migration through the park.