Lone Tree

Lone Tree is its own city in northern Douglas County, about 18 miles south of downtown Denver. Centennial sits to the north, Highlands Ranch to the west and Parker to the southeast. I-25 runs straight through the middle of town, with the C-470 interchange at the north end.

From a homestead to a city of annexations

Three Austrian brothers named Schweiger homesteaded here in 1874, and their ranch on Happy Canyon Creek is still standing. The suburb came much later: a subdivision opened on Memorial Day weekend in 1982 with nine households, and Lone Tree Golf Club opened in 1985 as its centerpiece. Residents voted 676 to 165 to incorporate in 1995, and most of the map since has come from annexation: the 3,500-acre RidgeGate property in 2000, Heritage Hills, Centennial Ridge and Carriage Club in 2001, and Park Meadows mall in 2007.

The older neighborhoods and RidgeGate

The original subdivision wraps the golf course, an 18-hole, par-72 Arnold Palmer design that South Suburban Parks and Recreation has owned, along with its hotel, since 1991. Heritage Hills, Centennial Ridge and Carriage Club were their own neighborhoods before joining the city, and Heritage Hills still has its own metro district.

RidgeGate is a 3,500-acre master plan on both sides of I-25. Its West Village is fully sold, with more than 20 residential neighborhoods mixing single-family houses, townhomes, condos, apartments and senior living, plus Sky Ridge Medical Center, open since 2003.

East of the interstate is where the dirt is still moving. Lyric is a 700-acre Shea Homes village planned for about 1,900 homes, and the wider East Villages plan could hold as many as 10,000 over the next few decades. If you want a brand-new house in Lone Tree, the east side is where to look. If you'd rather buy where the building is done, start west of I-25.

The Bluffs, the trails and Schweiger Ranch

Bluffs Regional Park has a 2.7-mile soft-surface loop with Front Range views, from the trailhead at 10099 Crooked Stick Trail. It ties into the East/West Regional Trail, which runs 27 miles through grassland and oak bluffs between Highlands Ranch, Castle Pines, Lone Tree and Parker. Willow Creek Trail cuts north to south through the center of town and reaches the High Line Canal trail.

Schweiger Ranch covers 38 acres at 10822 S. Havana Street. It became a Douglas County historic landmark in 2004, finished a restoration in 2016, and opens June through October and again in December. The city's fall festival, with a pumpkin patch, is held there in early October.

Park Meadows, a brewery and a stage

Park Meadows opened in August 1996 with about 1.6 million square feet and more than 185 stores and restaurants. Close by, Lone Tree Brewing Company has been pouring at 8200 Park Meadows Drive since 2011 as the city's first brewery. The Lone Tree Arts Center, at 10075 Commons Street, opened in 2011 with a 500-seat theater, a 200-seat event hall and a 350-seat outdoor terrace.

Five light rail stops and three highways

I-25 and C-470 handle most trips, and E-470 is the toll road toward the airport. RTD has five stations in town: County Line, Lincoln, Sky Ridge, Lone Tree City Center and RidgeGate Parkway, the southernmost station on the system. The E Line runs to Union Station, and the R Line heads to Aurora and the A Line to the airport. Lincoln has 1,734 parking spaces, RidgeGate Parkway 1,300 and County Line 388, while Sky Ridge and City Center have none, so if you want to ride from those two, live within walking distance.

HOAs and metro districts

HOAs go back to the start here: there were 13 of them by 1991, before the city existed. Six metro districts also operate in Lone Tree: Hawkview, Heritage Hills, Lincoln Station, Omni Park, Park Meadows and Rampart Range. They pay for roads, water and sewer lines, parks and landscaping, and their levy shows up on your property tax bill, often to repay construction bonds. Before you offer, get the HOA dues and the metro district's share of the tax bill for that address.