Birding spots · Colorado

Best Birding Spots in Arapahoe County, Colorado

Cherry Creek Lake leads Arapahoe County's birding spots with 269 species reported, best in spring. 92 spots in the county have enough data to rank.

Species counts are birds reported at least three times in that season at that spot, 2016–2025. Busy spots list more species simply because more people look, so compare the checklist counts. Spot names come from public map data and hotspot listings.

Spot	Species	Checklists	Winter	Spring	Summer	Fall
Cherry Creek Lake	269	4,476	115	214	161	210
Cherry Creek State Park	217	4,461	73	171	137	180
Cherry Creek Lake (Cottonwood Creek)	199	2,221	55	146	115	148
Cherry Creek Lake (southwest)	184	1,095	59	122	79	135
Cherry Creek State Park (south)	175	1,068	59	136	109	106
South Platte Pk\ Carson Nature Area	171	2,247	98	137	74	106
Cherry Creek State Park (Cottonwood Creek)	170	2,306	54	144	105	105
Cherry Creek Lake (northeast)	170	1,190	58	128	72	100
Cherry Creek State Park (Cherry Creek Lake)	166	2,408	76	120	80	115
South Platte Pk\ Carson Nature Area (Cooley Lake)	166	1,101	86	136	84	106
Aurora Reservoir	165	901	87	96	65	121
Cherry Creek State Park (Lone Tree Creek)	157	1,470	74	101	98	106
Cherry Knolls Park / Big Dry Creek	151	1,372	68	112	82	92
Centennial Park (Big Dry Creek)	147	1,594	65	125	73	98
South Platte Pk\ Carson Nature Area (South Platte Reservoir)	144	2,027	89	99	47	105
Quincy Reservoir Natural Area	143	568	10	123	66	93
City Land	140	802	47	121	60	88
Carson Nature Center	132	976	71	100	64	75
Mary Carter Greenway	127	906	66	100	62	79
Cherry Creek State Park (Woodgate)	123	781	47	106	72	80
South Platte Park/Carson Nature Area	121	663	60	100	67	68
South Platte Park/Carson Nature Area (Bufflehead Lake)	121	245	39	92	65	83
Ketring Park	119	1,565	70	92	51	73
Cherry Creek State Park (north)	118	462	41	87	46	58
Sports Park	113	118	1	101	42	44
South Platte Pk\ Carson Nature Area (Eaglewatch Lake)	110	502	49	92	54	76
Englewood Reservoir	109	676	36	97	62	67
Cherry Creek Valley Ecological Park	108	503	46	88	65	52
Cherry Creek Reservior / State Park	108	195	46	78	59	44
Cherry Creek State Park (west)	107	382	31	74	76	50
Hudson Gardens	106	609	58	78	60	68
Orchard Hills Park	104	529	36	84	58	65
Cherry Creek State Park (Sundown)	99	356	36	55	60	56
South Platte Pk\ Carson Nature Area (northeast)	97	253	50	76	55	65
Reynolds Landing	96	350	53	81	49	54
Parker Jordan Centennial Open Space	93	253	48	69	62	29
Broken Tee Golf Course	93	211	43	72	58	48
South Platte Pk\ Carson Nature Area (Wolhurst Lake)	93	198	53	64	26	46
South Platte Pk\ Carson Nature Area (Bufflehead Lake)	91	199	39	58	31	47
Cherry Creek State Park (Piney Creek)	91	94	31	55	56	11
Dekoevend Park	88	428	38	63	53	52
Mary Carter Greenway (Littleton)	88	257	47	75	47	32
McLellan Reservoir	87	251	42	49	62	29
Richmil Ranch Open Space Park	87	187	10	71	46	46
Lee Gulch/Littleton	86	153	38	65	36	34
South Platte Pk\ Carson Nature Area (Blackrock Lake)	85	395	53	50	24	48
Blackmer Lake (Cherry Ridge)	84	194	39	57	39	39
Aurora Jewell Wetland	83	414	31	64	55	41
Cherry Creek Reservior / State Park (Cherry Creek Lake)	82	147	20	46	35	48
Horseshoe Natural Area	80	523	38	62	57	42