30% of Paulden’s land is conserved: 11,178 acres
294 acres are parks and preserves, 61 per 1,000 residents. 1% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 12 miles of mapped trail cross Paulden, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns · #79 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Paulden?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Paulden have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Paulden is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #79 of 140 in Arizona. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Arizona towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Paulden’s 30% is ahead of 66% of Arizona towns, while its trails per square mile lead 8% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
11,178 conserved acres
30% of Paulden’s land. Who manages Paulden’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 4 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Trust Land State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 10,844 | Restricted |
| Upper Verde River Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 297 | Open |
| Prescott National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 35 | Open |
| Verde Springs Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 18 | Unknown |
5 lakes & rivers
1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Paulden: 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) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 56 | 59 | 66 | 73 | 82 | 92 | 95 | 92 | 87 | 77 | 65 | 54 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.0 |
June is the driest month (0.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 95 °F). 2.3 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 95 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Paulden →
Paulden and its neighbors
Paulden has the second 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paulden | 30% | 0.2 | 61 | 1% | B |
| Chino Valley | 12% | 0.6 | 6 | 19% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Paulden
How much of Paulden is conserved land?
30% 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.
Is there public land near Paulden?
151,948 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Paulden or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 321 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Paulden have?
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #79 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 Paulden neighbors.
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 →