Poston Butte Preserve
Managed by Town of Florence
475 acres3.2 mi of trail
Poston Butte Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Tony the Marine · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Florence
21% of Florence’s land is conserved: 8,257 acres
99 miles of mapped trail cross Florence, 1.6 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Poston Butte Preserve (3.2 mi). 41 acres are parks and preserves, 1.6 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns · #91 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Conserved land
21%
8,257 acres · of 62.7 sq mi of land
Trails
99 mi
1.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
41 ac
1.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
13%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
17 mi
15 mi lanes · 1.5 mi paths
Highest peak
1,965 ft
Walker Butte
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Florence?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Florence have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Florence is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #91 of 140 in Arizona. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Florence’s overall grade.
Conserved land21% of the land · typical AZ town 14% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (99 mi) · AZ 1.1 · U.S. 0.4APark land1.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (41 acres) · AZ 8 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home13% 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 54%
LessMore
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 35%
Arizona towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Florence’s 21% is ahead of 58% of Arizona towns, while its trails per square mile lead 70% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. 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 Poston Butte Preserve, with 3.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
8,257 conserved acres
21% of Florence’s land. Who manages Florence’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State Department of Land6,438 ac
Bureau of Land Management1,665 ac
Bureau of Reclamation130 ac
Town or city36 ac
State parks2 ac
State Resource Management Area · 6,445 acNational Public Lands · 1,665 acFederal Other or Unknown · 130 acLocal Recreation Area · 27 acLocal Park · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 9 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Trust Land State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 6,445 | Restricted |
| Lower Sonoran Field Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 1,665 | Open |
| Usbr Federal Other or Unknown | Bureau of Reclamation | 130 | Unknown |
| Heritage Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 25 | Open |
| McFarland State Historic Park State Park | State parks | 2 | Open |
| Padilla Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Little League Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Main Street Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Florence
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Florence
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Florence
Walker Butte1,965 ft elevation
DirectionsPoston Butte1,736 ft elevation · In Poston Butte Preserve
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.1 mi
Poston Butte Trail0.5 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
17 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
15 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
16Pickleball
12Tennis
7Baseball
2Football
2Basketball
1Equestrian
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →23 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 3 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
First Florence CourthouseBuilding · listed 1974
About itPinal County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1978
About itFlorence Townsite Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1982
About itC. D. Henry HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About itCarminatti-Perham HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About itColton, Albert and Freeman, H. H., HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About itDr. George Huffman HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About itHarvey-Niemeyer HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About itInez and Davis Littlefield Bea HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About itLorona, Andronico, Second HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About itRamon Arballo HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About itW. Y. Price HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About it11 more on the History page.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Florence
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) | 10.2 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.8 | 14.3 | 14.1 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 67 | 71 | 78 | 85 | 94 | 104 | 105 | 103 | 99 | 89 | 76 | 66 |
| Rain (in) | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.1 |
June is the driest month (0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 105 °F). 1.3 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 105 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Florence →
Next door
Florence and its neighbors
Florence has the second most mapped trails of the 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florence | 21% | 1.6 | 2 | 13% | B− |
| San Tan Valley | 39% | 1.0 | 29 | 85% | A |
| Coolidge | 1% | 1.3 | 34 | 85% | A− |
| Blackwater | under 1% | 0.4 | under 1 | 21% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Florence
Where can I hike in Florence?
The longest trail networks: Poston Butte Preserve, 3.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Florence is conserved land?
21% 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 Florence’s trails?
Poston Butte Preserve doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Florence?
17 miles of bike routes are on the map: 15 of painted or protected lanes and 1.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Florence?
81,888 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Florence or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,866 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Florence have?
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #91 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 Florence 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 →