Cottonwood Park
Park
16 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Ricardo630 assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY 2.5BOutdoors
Outdoors in Colorado City
25% of Colorado City’s land is conserved: 1,426 acres
8.0 miles of mapped trail cross Colorado City, 0.9 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Cottonwood Park (0.5 mi). 31% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns · #72 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Conserved land
25%
1,426 acres · of 8.9 sq mi of land
Trails
8.0 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
16 ac
5.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
31%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.2 mi
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Colorado City?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Colorado City have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Colorado City is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #72 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 Colorado City’s overall grade.
Conserved land25% of the land · typical AZ town 14% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · AZ 1.1 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land5.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (16 acres) · AZ 8 · U.S. 13CParks close to home31% 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 62%
LessMore
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 49%
Arizona towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Colorado City’s 25% is ahead of 61% of Arizona towns, while its trails per square mile lead 43% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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
The longest trail network is Cottonwood Park, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Cottonwood Point Wilderness
Managed by Bureau of Land Management
11 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,426 conserved acres
25% of Colorado City’s land. Who manages Colorado City’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Bureau of Land Management1,086 ac
State Department of Land325 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits15 ac
National Public Lands · 1,086 acState Resource Management Area · 325 acLocal Park · 15 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Strip Field Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 1,086 | Open |
| State Trust Land State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 325 | Restricted |
| Cottonwood Park Local Park | Land trusts & nonprofits | 15 | Open |
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.2 mi
South 970 West0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
When to get out
The best walking months in Colorado City: April and May
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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 49 | 53 | 60 | 67 | 77 | 89 | 94 | 92 | 84 | 72 | 59 | 48 |
| Rain (in) | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.2 |
June is the driest month (0.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 94 °F). 1.6 inches fall in February, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 94 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Colorado City →
Next door
Colorado City and its neighbors
Colorado City has the most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado City | 25% | 0.9 | 6 | 31% | B |
| Centennial Park | under 1% | 0.5 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Colorado City
Where can I hike in Colorado City?
The longest trail networks: Cottonwood Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Colorado City is conserved land?
25% 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 Colorado City’s trails?
Cottonwood Park and Cottonwood Point Wilderness don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Colorado City?
3.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Colorado City?
101,118 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Colorado City or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,106 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Colorado City have?
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #72 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 Colorado City 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 →