San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area
Managed by Bureau of Land Management
13,083 acres19.7 mi of trail
San Pedro Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Whetstone
43% of Whetstone’s land is conserved: 25,970 acres
The biggest trail networks: San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (19.7 mi). 54 miles of mapped trail cross Whetstone, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns · #118 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Conserved land
43%
25,970 acres · of 94.0 sq mi of land
Trails
54 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
What kind of outdoors town is Whetstone?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Whetstone have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Whetstone is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #118 of 140 in Arizona. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Whetstone’s overall grade.
Conserved land43% of the land · typical AZ town 14% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (54 mi) · AZ 1.1 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · AZ 8 · U.S. 13DParks close to home0% of residents within a half mile of a park · AZ 56% · U.S. 72%D−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 37%
LessMore
Arizona towns of 2,500+ (140)Ahead of 16%
Arizona towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 14%; the U.S., 4%), so Whetstone’s 43% is ahead of 80% of Arizona towns, while its trails per square mile lead 23% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D 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
The longest trail network is San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, with 19.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
25,970 conserved acres
43% of Whetstone’s land. Who manages Whetstone’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State Department of Land25,836 ac
Joint134 ac
State Resource Management Area · 25,836 acUnknown Easement · 134 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 134 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 2 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 | 25,836 | Restricted |
Trails & water
1 named trail and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
San Pedro Trail6.9 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Whetstone
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) | 62 | 65 | 71 | 78 | 86 | 95 | 93 | 91 | 89 | 81 | 70 | 61 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
May is the driest month (0.2 in) and June the warmest (highs of 95 °F). 3.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 95 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Whetstone →
Next door
Whetstone and its neighbors
Whetstone 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whetstone | 43% | 0.6 | under 1 | under 1% | C+ |
| Sierra Vista | 7% | 1.0 | 17 | 85% | A− |
| Huachuca City | 2% | 0.7 | 9 | 79% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Whetstone
Where can I hike in Whetstone?
The longest trail networks: San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, 19.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Whetstone is conserved land?
43% 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 Whetstone’s trails?
San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Whetstone?
47,209 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Whetstone or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 161 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Whetstone have?
Ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #118 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 Whetstone 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 →