Photo: Ixnayonthetimmay · CC BY-SA 4.0More than half of Show Low’s land is conserved: 66%
66% of Show Low’s land is conserved, about 27,507 acres. 100 miles of mapped trail cross Show Low, 1.5 per square mile of land. 87 acres are parks and preserves, 7.2 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 78% of U.S. towns · #44 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Show Low?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Show Low have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Show Low is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #44 of 140 in Arizona. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Arizona towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Show Low’s 66% is ahead of 95% of Arizona towns, while its trails per square mile lead 67% 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.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
27,507 conserved acres
66% of Show Low’s land. Who manages Show Low’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sitgreaves National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 27,318 | Open |
| Fools Hollow Lake Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 99 | Restricted |
| Show Low City Park Local Park | Town or city | 57 | Open |
| Nikolaus Homestead Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Show Low Lake State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 8 | Restricted |
| Tyler Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Frontier Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Mccarty Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Gary Archibeque Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
| Raeland Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
15 places to go in Show Low
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
3 boat launches without a name on the map.
Plus 1 scenic view without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
25 named trails and 27 lakes & rivers
15 more trails
0.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Show Low: April to June
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 | 10.3 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 47 | 51 | 58 | 65 | 74 | 85 | 86 | 83 | 79 | 69 | 57 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
June is the driest month (0.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 2.7 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Show Low →
Show Low and its neighbors
Show Low has the most mapped trails of the 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Show Low | 66% | 1.5 | 7 | 56% | A− |
| Wagon Wheel | 24% | 3.9 | under 1 | under 1% | B− |
| Linden | 63% | 2.3 | under 1 | under 1% | B− |
| White Mountain Lake | 35% | 0.5 | under 1 | 2% | C+ |
| Pinetop-Lakeside | 39% | 1.5 | 41 | 66% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Show Low
How much of Show Low 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 Show Low’s trails?
Show Low City Park and Frontier Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Show Low?
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.1 of painted or protected lanes and 0.8 of off-road paths. Named routes: Differential.
Is there public land near Show Low?
186,278 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Show Low or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 27,386 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Show Low have?
Ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #44 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 Show Low 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 →