Photo: Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.010% of Surprise’s land is conserved: 6,868 acres
91% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Asante Community Park (2.3 mi), Surprise Community Park (1.9 mi), Surprise Farms Community Park (0.6 mi). 70 miles of mapped trail cross Surprise, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns · #61 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Surprise?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Surprise have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Surprise is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns, #61 of 140 in Arizona. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Surprise ranks #261 on Outdoors.
Arizona towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Surprise’s 10% is ahead of 40% of Arizona towns, while its trails per square mile lead 29% of them.
Park acres per resident are where Surprise trails most U.S. towns: 6.2 per 1,000 against 12.6 typical, since 175,304 people share 967 acres.
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
The longest trail network is Asante Community Park, with 2.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Surprise Community Park
Surprise Farms Community Park
Heritage Park
All 54 parks & preserves
6,868 conserved acres
10% of Surprise’s land. Who manages Surprise’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 15 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 | 6,421 | Restricted |
| Usbr Federal Other or Unknown | Bureau of Reclamation | 226 | Unknown |
| Asante Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 52 | Open |
| Surprise Farms Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 47 | Open |
| Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 42 | Open |
| Heritage (Marley) Park Local Park | Town or city | 25 | Open |
| Centennial Friendship Park Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Sierra Montana Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Veramonte Park Local Park | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Bicentennial (Lizard Run) Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
225 places to go in Surprise
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Plus 3 public pools without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
189 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
Plus 13 dog parks without a name on the map.
9 waterfalls without a name on the map.
2 peaks without a name on the map.
2 named trails and 8 lakes & rivers
136 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.
April is the best month for walking in Surprise
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 | 76 | 84 | 93 | 103 | 105 | 104 | 98 | 87 | 75 | 65 |
| Rain (in) | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.0 |
June is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 105 °F). 1.1 inches fall in March, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 105 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Surprise →
Surprise and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surprise | 10% | 0.6 | 6 | 91% | B+ |
| Sun City West | under 1% | 2.6 | under 1 | 7% | C− |
| Sun City | 1% | 0.3 | 2 | 52% | C− |
| El Mirage | 4% | 0.7 | 8 | 99% | B+ |
| Peoria | 42% | 1.3 | 86 | 92% | A+ |
| Glendale | 5% | 0.8 | 10 | 98% | A− |
| Buckeye | 35% | 1.3 | 34 | 85% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Surprise
Where can I hike in Surprise?
The longest trail networks: Asante Community Park, 2.3 miles; Surprise Community Park, 1.9 miles; Surprise Farms Community Park, 0.6 miles; Heritage Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Surprise is conserved land?
10% 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 Surprise’s trails?
Asante Community Park and Surprise Community Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Surprise?
136 miles of bike routes are on the map: 114 of painted or protected lanes and 22 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Surprise?
104,479 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Surprise or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,141 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Surprise have?
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #61 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 Surprise 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 →