McDowell Mountain Regional Park
Managed by Maricopa County
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Bartlett Dam · Photo: Andy Pernick, a Bureau of Reclamation photographer · Public domainBOutdoors
Outdoors in Rio Verde
25% of Rio Verde’s land is conserved: 691 acres
2.9 miles of mapped trail cross Rio Verde, 0.7 per square mile of land. 5 acres are parks and preserves, 2.1 per 1,000 residents. 42% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
25%
691 acres · of 4.3 sq mi of land
Trails
2.9 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
5 ac
2.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
42%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.6 mi
3.5 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Rio Verde?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Rio Verde have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Rio Verde is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Rio Verde’s overall grade.
Conserved land25% of the land · typical AZ town 14% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · AZ 1.1 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land2.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (5 acres) · AZ 8 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home42% 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 56%
LessMore
Arizona towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Rio Verde’s 25% is ahead of 60% of Arizona towns, while its trails per square mile lead 31% 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
691 conserved acres
25% of Rio Verde’s land. Who manages Rio Verde’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service684 ac
Regional agency7 ac
National Forest · 684 acLocal Park · 7 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tonto National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 684 | Open |
| McDowell Mountain Regional Park Local Park | Regional agency | 7 | Open |
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.5 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.1 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
6Tennis
4Pickleball
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 Verde
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 | 13.9 | 14.4 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 67 | 70 | 77 | 84 | 93 | 103 | 105 | 104 | 99 | 88 | 76 | 66 |
| Rain (in) | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
June is the driest month (0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 105 °F). 1.6 inches fall in February, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 105 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Rio Verde →
Questions about parks and trails in Rio Verde
How much of Rio Verde 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 Rio Verde’s trails?
McDowell Mountain Regional Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Rio Verde?
3.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.5 of painted or protected lanes and 0.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Rio Verde?
157,320 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Rio Verde or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 695 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Rio Verde have?
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Verde 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 →