Calaveras Big Trees State Park
Nature preserve
81 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Arnold
Arnold has 11 miles of mapped trails, 1.2 for every square mile of land
151 acres are parks and preserves, 61 per 1,000 residents. 10% of Arnold’s land is conserved, about 569 acres. 10% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
569 acres · of 8.7 sq mi of land
Trails
11 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
151 ac
61 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
10%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
1 beach
What kind of outdoors town is Arnold?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Arnold have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Arnold is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Arnold’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (11 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land61 acres of park per 1,000 residents (151 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home10% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 73%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
569 conserved acres
10% of Arnold’s land. Who manages Arnold’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service424 ac
State parks81 ac
County64 ac
National Forest · 424 acState Park · 81 acLocal Park · 64 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stanislaus National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 424 | Open |
| Calaveras Big Trees State Park State Park | State parks | 81 | Open |
| White Pines Park Local Park | County | 64 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Arnold
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Arnold
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Arnold
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Picnic areas in Arnold
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
5 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 3.3 miHorses · 1.1 miUnpaved · 4.4 mi
Arnold Rim Trail1.9 mi
Cedar Center Connextor0.9 mi
Logging Museum Trail0.5 mi
Water Tank0.4 mi
ART Equine Trail0.3 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
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Arnold: May and June
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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 52 | 53 | 57 | 61 | 69 | 79 | 87 | 87 | 82 | 71 | 58 | 50 |
| Rain (in) | 8.9 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 4.0 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 4.8 | 8.0 |
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 8.9 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Arnold →
Questions about parks and trails in Arnold
How much of Arnold is conserved land?
10% 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 Arnold’s trails?
Calaveras Big Trees State Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Arnold?
94,689 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Arnold or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 578 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Arnold have?
Ahead of 73% 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 Arnold 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 →