Angeles National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
33 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Chevy111 · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Acton
Acton has 63 miles of mapped trails, 1.6 for every square mile of land
256 acres are parks and preserves, 33 per 1,000 residents. 27% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1% of Acton’s land is conserved, about 301 acres.
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns · #457 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
301 acres · of 39.3 sq mi of land
Trails
63 mi
1.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
256 ac
33 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
27%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Acton?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Acton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Acton is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #457 of 847 in California. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Acton’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails1.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (63 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land33 acres of park per 1,000 residents (256 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home27% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 57%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 46%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
San Gabriel Mountains National Monument
Managed by United States Forest Service
33 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
301 conserved acres
1% of Acton’s land. Who manages Acton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency164 ac
County90 ac
U.S. Forest Service41 ac
State Department of Land6 ac
Local Conservation Area · 144 acLocal Other or Unknown · 94 acNational Forest · 41 acLocal Park · 16 acState Resource Management Area · 6 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCC Plum Canyon Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 79 | Open |
| Acton Wash Wildlife Sanctuary Local Conservation Area | County | 74 | Open |
| Cold Creek Valley Preserve Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 70 | Open |
| Angeles National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 41 | Open |
| Acton Park Local Park | County | 16 | Open |
| Unnamed site - Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 13 | Unknown |
| California State Lands Commission State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 6 | Open |
| Red Rover Mine TaxDef Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 3 | Unknown |
Things to do
3 places to go in Acton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Acton
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Acton
Drummond Ranch
DirectionsTrails & water
5 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.6 mi
28th Street West1.0 mi
Ritter Motorway0.3 mi
West Avenue W 140.2 mi
Hilltop Terrace0.1 mi
Star View Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
2Baseball
1Basketball
1Football
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Acton: April and May
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 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 58 | 60 | 65 | 70 | 77 | 87 | 93 | 93 | 88 | 77 | 66 | 57 |
| Rain (in) | 2.3 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.7 |
August is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 93 °F). 2.6 inches fall in February, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 93 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Acton →
Next door
Acton and its neighbors
Acton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acton | 1% | 1.6 | 33 | 27% | B |
| Agua Dulce | 5% | 0.6 | 72 | 21% | B |
| Palmdale | 8% | 1.8 | 31 | 66% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Acton
How much of Acton is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 4% for a California town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Acton’s trails?
Angeles National Forest and San Gabriel Mountains National Monument don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Acton?
49,587 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Acton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 730 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Acton have?
Ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #457 of 847 in California. 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 Acton 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 →