It’s no secret that many Coloradans are big dog lovers, and because of that, many spots around the state cater to these four-legged companions. This makes it no surprise that multiple spots around the Centennial State were ranked among the “best places to walk your dog” nationwide in a recent data analysis, including one city that snagged the first-place spot overall.

According to a report from LawnStarter, their data analysis of 17 metrics split into four different categories – access, quality, professional walking and safety – indicated that Colorado Springs is the best place for dog walking nationwide among 500 cities included in the analysis.

While Colorado Springs ranked low in terms of safety metrics – 389th, it ranked first in terms of access, 27th in terms of quality, and 97th in terms of professional dog walking. Ultimately, that earned the city the top spot once all metrics were taken into account.

The “access” category of metrics included data points related to dog-friendly trails and dog-friendly parks. Colorado Springs ranked first nationwide in terms of total dog-friendly trail mileage, third in number of dog-friendly trails, fourth in number of top-rated dog-friendly trails, and 10th in number of top-rated off-leash dog parks.

Putting a little more context to those rankings, the city was reported to have 143 dog-friendly trails spanning close to 1,700 miles. A total of 73 of those trails are considered to be “top-rated.” The city is also home to four “top-rated” dog parks.

Also ranking well was Boulder, in fourth-place overall. Boulder shined when it came to the access rank, as well, ranking 22nd in this category of metrics. The city also outshined Colorado Springs when it came to quality-related data points, coming in second nationwide. While Boulder’s 621 miles of dog-friendly trail is dwarfed by the mileage found in Colorado Springs, 87 of their 127 dog-friendly trails were considered to be “top-rated,” beating Colorado Springs and ranking second nationwide in terms of that specific data point.

Elsewhere in Colorado, Fort Collins ranked 122nd overall, Denver ranked 228th (brought down by a low rank of 400th in terms of safety), Castle Rock ranked 312th, Arvada ranked 327th, Greeley ranked 309th, Pueblo ranked 361st, Loveland ranked 368th, Longmont ranked 405th and Aurora ranked.

In contrast to Colorado Springs’ first-place ranking, Pompano Beach, Florida ranked last.

Find the full breakdown here.

Photo Credit: Solovyova (iStock).

Solovyova