Robert Damon Recreational Complex
Park
25 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Elnogalense · CC BY-SA 4.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Rio Rico
Rio Rico has 45 miles of mapped trails, 0.7 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Robert Damon Recreational Complex (0.5 mi). 13% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 298 acres are parks and preserves, 14 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns · #117 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
386 acres · of 63.1 sq mi of land
Trails
45 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
298 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
13%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
3,924 ft
Cuates Butte
Lakes & rivers
4
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Rio Rico have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Rio Rico is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #117 of 140 in Arizona. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Rio Rico’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical AZ town 14% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (45 mi) · AZ 1.1 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (298 acres) · AZ 8 · U.S. 13B−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 38%
LessMore
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 17%
Arizona towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Rio Rico’s 1% is ahead of 16% of Arizona towns, while its trails per square mile lead 34% 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 Robert Damon Recreational Complex, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
386 conserved acres
1% of Rio Rico’s land. Who manages Rio Rico’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks260 ac
U.S. Forest Service80 ac
County24 ac
National Park Service22 ac
State Park · 260 acNational Forest · 80 acLocal Park · 24 acHistoric or Cultural Area · 22 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonoita Creek Natural Area State Park | State parks | 260 | Open |
| Coronado National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 80 | Open |
| Robert Damon Recreational Complex Local Park | County | 24 | Open |
| Tumacacori National Historical Park Historic or Cultural Area | National Park Service | 22 | Restricted |
Things to do
1 places to go in Rio Rico
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Rio Rico
Cuates Butte3,924 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
14 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 10.5 mi
Juan Bautista De Anza National Historic Trail8.4 mi
Circulo Tortuga1.5 mi
Camino Real1.3 mi
Cerrado Sanchez1.2 mi
Calle Coco1.1 mi
Camino Soza0.9 mi
Vereda Patria0.7 mi
Calle Caracol0.7 mi
Monsoon Court0.4 mi
Calle Canoa0.4 mi
4 more trails
Camino Amapola
0.3 miToluca Court
0.2 miSauzal Court
0.2 miPeck Canyon
0.1 miLakes & 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
2Baseball
1Basketball
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 Rio Rico
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 | 13.7 | 14.2 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.5 | 10.1 |
| High (°F) | 66 | 68 | 74 | 80 | 89 | 97 | 95 | 93 | 91 | 84 | 74 | 65 |
| Rain (in) | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.3 |
May is the driest month (0.2 in) and June the warmest (highs of 97 °F). 3.7 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 97 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Rio Rico →
Next door
Rio Rico and its neighbors
Rio Rico 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rio Rico | 1% | 0.7 | 14 | 13% | C+ |
| Tumacacori-Carmen | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Rio Rico
Where can I hike in Rio Rico?
The longest trail networks: Robert Damon Recreational Complex, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Rio Rico is conserved land?
1% 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 Rio Rico’s trails?
Robert Damon Recreational Complex doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Rio Rico?
173,939 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Rio Rico or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 381 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Rio Rico have?
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #117 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 Rio Rico 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 →