Red-tail Park in Highlands Ranch: Water Play, Map & Homes

Located at 2674 Pemberly Ave. in southern Highlands Ranch (ZIP code 80126), Red-tail Park blends active neighborhood sports facilities with warm-weather family play. While many pocket parks offer only open turf and benches, Red-tail Park is famous across Douglas County for its interactive summer water features positioned right beside an expansive sand play area and children’s playground. Visitors can open turn-by-turn Google Maps directions to 2674 Pemberly Ave. or walk and bike directly into the park via the surrounding Pemberly Avenue sidewalk and greenbelt network.

To support afternoon birthday parties, neighborhood cookouts, and youth sports practices, Red-tail Park is equipped with permanent public restrooms, drinking fountains, charcoal barbecue grills, picnic tables, and a covered shelter pavilion that accommodates up to 40 guests. Beyond the play plaza, outdoor basketball courts and open multi-use turf fields provide ample room for pickup games and community recreation.

Red-tail Park is owned and maintained by the Highlands Ranch Metro District. Enjoying more than 300 days of annual Colorado sunshine along the southern foothills corridor, families visiting the water features or reserving the 40-person shelter should keep fast-moving summer afternoon thundershowers and Metro District park standards in mind:

• Pavilion Reservations & Group Permits (Five or More People): The covered shelter at Red-tail Park accommodates up to 40 people. Any organized activity involving five or more participants—including birthday gatherings, youth sports practices, fitness bootcamps, or group picnics—requires an advance park permit from the Highlands Ranch Metro District.
• Canopy Staking & Irrigation Protection: Small stakes up to 10 inches in length are permitted on park turf for temporary shade tents. Stakes longer than 10 inches require a formal Metro District application and permit to safeguard pressurized underground irrigation lines.
• Leashed Dogs & E-Bike Access: Dogs are welcome on paved paths and turf areas when kept on a physical leash and cleaned up after promptly. Motorized vehicles are prohibited on park grounds, while Class I and Class II electric bicycles are allowed on paved pathways.
• Prohibited Activities: Glass containers, open fires outside designated park charcoal grills, fireworks, open carry or discharge of firearms, archery, paintball, pellet or BB guns, golf practice, model rockets or drones, unpermitted camping, littering, and wildlife harassment are strictly prohibited.

Positioned along Pemberly Avenue south of Wildcat Reserve Parkway in the 80126 ZIP code, Red-tail Park anchors one of the most sought-after residential pockets in southern Highlands Ranch while connecting buyers to all three major build eras of the community:

• 2000s & 2010s Luxury & Family Enclaves (Immediate Pemberly Avenue Corridor): The residential streets immediately bordering Red-tail Park belong to the Firelight and Southridge neighborhoods, surrounded nearby by The Hearth, Tresana, and Backcountry. Built primarily during the 2000s and 2010s, these homes feature open-concept great rooms, nine-foot basement foundations, three-car garages, walkout lots, and elevated ridge-line views.
• Established 1980s & 1990s Neighborhoods: Buyers comparing mature tree canopies, generous lot dimensions, and value-add remodeling potential can also explore established 1980s and 1990s neighborhoods in northern and central Highlands Ranch, including Northridge, Eastridge, and Westridge.
• Brand-New Construction & Newer Luxury Builds: Buyers seeking brand-new construction and newer contemporary luxury homes across Highlands Ranch and northern Douglas County enjoy turn-key energy efficiency, modern floor plans, and seamless access to the community’s 70+ miles of paved and natural-surface trails.

Residents living near Red-tail Park enjoy walkable and bikeable proximity to Copper Mesa Elementary School, Mountain Ridge Middle School, and Mountain Vista High School, plus full membership access to all four HRCA recreation centers—anchored minutes away by the Southridge Recreation Center at 4800 McArthur Ranch Rd. and nearby Backcountry trailheads. During due diligence on any specific home, buyers should review the property-specific HOA and Metro District disclosures included in their transaction documents.

When evaluating homes backing to greenbelts in Highlands Ranch or properties bordering an active neighborhood destination like Red-tail Park, viewing each home through the lens of a residential builder, home rehab expert, and engineer highlights several practical design and due-diligence opportunities:

• Custom Decks, Privacy Landscaping & Sightline Orientation: Because Red-tail Park draws lively summer activity around its water features, pavilion, and basketball courts, lots directly bordering the park benefit from thoughtful outdoor design. Planning an elevated composite deck with a covered pergola, low-voltage lighting, and strategic evergreen and ornamental grass screening preserves open-space views while creating a private backyard retreat.
• Walkout Basements & Open Kitchen Remodeling Ideas: Many 2000s-era homes along Pemberly Avenue and throughout Firelight feature rolling topography suited for walkout or garden-level basements. Reconfiguring a builder-grade kitchen island to face the rear greenbelt windows—paired with a custom basement wet bar, guest suite, and covered lower-level patio—protects long-term resale value because permanent park frontage shields against over-improving the lot.
• Sloped Grading, Expansive Soils & Questions for Licensed Inspectors: Southern Highlands Ranch terrain sits atop Douglas County’s expansive clay soils and sloped drainage swales. When touring a property near Red-tail Park, it is helpful to discuss general construction knowledge around positive perimeter grading and downspout extensions, and to know what questions to ask independent, licensed third-party home and structural inspectors regarding walkout retaining walls, deck ledger attachments, concrete flatwork, and basement slabs.