Superstition Wilderness
Managed by United States Forest Service
17 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Gold Canyon
More than half of Gold Canyon’s land is conserved: 66%
66% of Gold Canyon’s land is conserved, about 11,997 acres. 103 miles of mapped trail cross Gold Canyon, 3.6 per square mile of land. 3,351 acres are parks and preserves, 256 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns · #12 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Conserved land
66%
11,997 acres · of 28.7 sq mi of land
Trails
103 mi
3.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
3,351 ac
256 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
41%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.0 mi
1.0 mi lanes
Highest peak
2,822 ft
Turk's Head
What kind of outdoors town is Gold Canyon?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Gold Canyon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gold Canyon is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #12 of 140 in Arizona. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Gold Canyon’s overall grade.
Conserved land66% of the land · typical AZ town 14% · U.S. 4%A+Trails3.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (103 mi) · AZ 1.1 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land256 acres of park per 1,000 residents (3,351 acres) · AZ 8 · U.S. 13AParks close to home41% 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 94%
LessMore
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 92%
Arizona towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Gold Canyon’s 66% is ahead of 94% of Arizona towns, while its trails per square mile lead 94% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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
11,997 conserved acres
66% of Gold Canyon’s land. Who manages Gold Canyon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State Department of Land11,883 ac
County3,321 ac
U.S. Forest Service17 ac
State Resource Management Area · 11,883 acLocal Conservation Area · 3,308 acNational Forest · 17 acLocal Recreation Area · 12 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Trust Land State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 11,883 | Restricted |
| Proposed Open Space Local Conservation Area | County | 3,308 | Open |
| Tonto National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 17 | Open |
| Dinosaur Park Local Recreation Area | County | 12 | Open |
Things to do
16 places to go in Gold Canyon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Gold Canyon
Turk's Head2,822 ft elevation
DirectionsDinosaur Mountain2,313 ft elevation
DirectionsPlus 14 peaks without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
7 named trails
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.9 miUnpaved · 11.9 mi
Lost Goldmine Trail4.5 mi
Old US 801.1 mi
Old Horse Trail0.9 mi
Carney Springs Trail0.3 mi
Hieroglyphic Trail #1010.2 mi
Hieroglyphic Trail/Lost Goldmine Trail0.1 mi
Goldmine Trail0.1 mi
Biking & sports
1.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.0 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
16Pickleball
6Tennis
4Basketball
4Golf
2Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Gold Canyon
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 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.3 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 66 | 69 | 76 | 84 | 93 | 103 | 104 | 103 | 98 | 87 | 75 | 65 |
| Rain (in) | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
June is the driest month (0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 104 °F). 1.5 inches fall in February, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 104 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Gold Canyon →
Next door
Gold Canyon and its neighbors
Gold Canyon 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Canyon | 66% | 3.6 | 256 | 41% | A |
| Apache Junction | 65% | 2.2 | 3 | 51% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Gold Canyon
How much of Gold Canyon is conserved land?
66% 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 Gold Canyon’s trails?
Superstition Wilderness and Dinosaur Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Gold Canyon?
1.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.0 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Gold Canyon?
81,943 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gold Canyon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,354 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Gold Canyon have?
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #12 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 Gold Canyon 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 →