Cienega Creek Natural Preserve
Nature preserve
1,218 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: 0pen$0urce · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Vail
Vail has 74 miles of mapped trails, 3.2 for every square mile of land
39% of Vail’s land is conserved, about 5,657 acres. 1,111 acres are parks and preserves, 68 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Cienega Creek Natural Preserve (1.5 mi), Colossal Cave Mountain Park (0.9 mi).
Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns · #10 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Conserved land
39%
5,657 acres · of 22.7 sq mi of land
Trails
74 mi
3.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,111 ac
68 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
60%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
12 mi
7.1 mi lanes · 4.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Vail?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Vail have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Vail is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #10 of 140 in Arizona. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Vail’s overall grade.
Conserved land39% of the land · typical AZ town 14% · U.S. 4%A+Trails3.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (74 mi) · AZ 1.1 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land68 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,111 acres) · AZ 8 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home60% of residents within a half mile of a park · AZ 56% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 95%
LessMore
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 94%
Arizona towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Vail’s 39% is ahead of 78% of Arizona towns, while its trails per square mile lead 92% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. 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 Cienega Creek Natural Preserve, with 1.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Colossal Cave Mountain Park
Nature preserve
138 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Vail Park
Park
21 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
5,657 conserved acres
39% of Vail’s land. Who manages Vail’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State Department of Land4,384 ac
County2,181 ac
State Resource Management Area · 4,384 acLocal Conservation Area · 1,215 acUnknown Easement · 931 acLocal Recreation Area · 36 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 23 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 6 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Trust Land State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 4,384 | Restricted |
| Cienega Creek Natural Preserve Local Conservation Area | County | 1,043 | Unknown |
| Agua Verde Creek Local Conservation Area | County | 100 | Unknown |
| Flap Local Conservation Area | County | 71 | Unknown |
| Colossal Cave Mountain Park Local Recreation Area | County | 36 | Open |
Things to do
19 places to go in Vail
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Vail
13 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Vail
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Vail
4 peaks without a name on the map.
Picnic areas in Vail
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
6 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.8 miHorses · 0.8 miUnpaved · 17.4 mi
Tight and Twisty1.3 mi
AZT - Las Cinegas0.8 mi
Zippin'0.8 mi
Ole Mesquite0.5 mi
U.S. Route 800.4 mi
Pistolero0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
12 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
7.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
4.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Arizona TrailBike route
0.8 miCourts & fields
29Equestrian
7Basketball
6Pickleball
5Baseball
3Soccer
3Tennis
1Softball
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Vail
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 | 13.8 | 14.2 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.5 | 10.1 |
| High (°F) | 65 | 67 | 73 | 81 | 89 | 98 | 97 | 95 | 92 | 84 | 73 | 64 |
| Rain (in) | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
May is the driest month (0.2 in) and June the warmest (highs of 98 °F). 3.0 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 98 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Vail →
Next door
Vail and its neighbors
Vail has the second most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vail | 39% | 3.2 | 68 | 60% | A |
| Rincon Valley | 25% | 1.3 | 47 | 51% | A |
| Tucson | 31% | 1.5 | 11 | 88% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Vail
Where can I hike in Vail?
The longest trail networks: Cienega Creek Natural Preserve, 1.5 miles; Colossal Cave Mountain Park, 0.9 miles; Vail Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Vail is conserved land?
39% 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 Vail’s trails?
Cienega Creek Natural Preserve and Colossal Cave Mountain Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Vail?
12 miles of bike routes are on the map: 7.1 of painted or protected lanes and 4.8 of off-road paths. Named routes: Arizona Trail.
Is there public land near Vail?
35,563 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Vail or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,111 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Vail have?
Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #10 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 Vail 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 →