Lions Park
Managed by City of Benson
36 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Richard N Horne · CC BY 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Benson
12% of Benson’s land is conserved: 3,209 acres
201 acres are parks and preserves, 37 per 1,000 residents. 30 miles of mapped trail cross Benson, 0.7 per square mile of land. 38% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns · #52 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Conserved land
12%
3,209 acres · of 41.6 sq mi of land
Trails
30 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
201 ac
37 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
38%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Benson?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Benson have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Benson is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #52 of 140 in Arizona. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Benson’s overall grade.
Conserved land12% of the land · typical AZ town 14% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (30 mi) · AZ 1.1 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land37 acres of park per 1,000 residents (201 acres) · AZ 8 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home38% of residents within a half mile of a park · AZ 56% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 74%
LessMore
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 63%
Arizona towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Benson’s 12% is ahead of 45% of Arizona towns, while its trails per square mile lead 35% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
3,209 conserved acres
12% of Benson’s land. Who manages Benson’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State Department of Land2,981 ac
State parks161 ac
U.S. Forest Service34 ac
Town or city34 ac
State Resource Management Area · 2,981 acState Park · 161 acNational Forest · 34 acLocal Park · 34 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Trust Land State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 2,981 | Restricted |
| Kartchner Caverns State Park State Park | State parks | 161 | Open |
| Coronado National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 34 | Open |
| Lions Park Local Park | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Union Street Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Apache Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Benson
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Benson
City PoolIn Union Street Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 4.6 mi
Old US 80 (Abandoned)0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
4Baseball
2Tennis
2Basketball
1Skate park
1Football
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →9 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Apache Powder Historic Residential DistrictDistrict · listed 1994
About itBenson Railroad Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1994
About itHi Wo Company GroceryBuilding · listed 1994
About itOasis CourtBuilding · listed 1994
About itRedfield-Romine HouseBuilding · listed 1994
About itSmith-Beck HouseBuilding · listed 1994
About itMartinez, W. D., General Merchadise StoreBuilding · listed 1994
About itTreu, Max, Territorial Meat CompanyBuilding · listed 1994
About itBenson Historic BarrioDistrict · listed 2011
About itWhen to get out
April is the best month for walking in Benson
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 10.3 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.8 | 14.2 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.5 | 10.1 |
| High (°F) | 63 | 65 | 71 | 78 | 87 | 96 | 94 | 92 | 89 | 81 | 71 | 62 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.9 |
May is the driest month (0.2 in) and June the warmest (highs of 96 °F). 3.4 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 96 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Benson →
Questions about parks and trails in Benson
How much of Benson is conserved land?
12% of its land, against a typical 14% for an Arizona town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Benson’s trails?
Lions Park and Apache Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Benson?
31,657 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Benson or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 219 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Benson have?
Ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #52 of 140 in Arizona. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Benson neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →