Sunflower Ranger Staiton · Photo: Matthew.kowal · CC BY-SA 4.0More than half of Tonto Basin’s land is conserved: 85%
85% of Tonto Basin’s land is conserved, about 17,489 acres. 30 miles of mapped trail cross Tonto Basin, 0.9 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Tonto Basin?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Tonto Basin have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Tonto Basin is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns. 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 Tonto Basin’s 85% is ahead of 99% of Arizona towns, while its trails per square mile lead 44% 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.
17,489 conserved acres
85% of Tonto Basin’s land. Who manages Tonto Basin’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tonto National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 17,489 | Open |
1 places to go in Tonto Basin
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
7 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
0.0 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 Tonto Basin
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) | 63 | 68 | 74 | 82 | 92 | 102 | 104 | 102 | 97 | 86 | 73 | 63 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
June is the driest month (0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 104 °F). 2.3 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 104 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Tonto Basin →
Questions about parks and trails in Tonto Basin
How much of Tonto Basin is conserved land?
85% 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 Tonto Basin?
291,348 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Tonto Basin or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 13,898 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Tonto Basin have?
Ahead of 43% 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 Tonto Basin 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 →