Photo: Clinton Steeds from Los Angeles, USA · CC BY 2.0More than half of Big Pine’s land is conserved: 68%
68% of Big Pine’s land is conserved, about 1,305 acres. 8.5 miles of mapped trail cross Big Pine, 2.9 per square mile of land. 1,300 acres are parks and preserves, 805 per 1,000 residents.
Among the top 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Big Pine?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Big Pine have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Big Pine is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. All four inputs put Big Pine near the top nationally; conserved land ranks highest.
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.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
1,305 conserved acres
68% of Big Pine’s land. Who manages Big Pine’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 1,304 | Open |
| Inyo Other National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 1 | Open |
5 places to go in Big Pine
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
1 named trail
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.
The best walking months in Big Pine: 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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 53 | 56 | 63 | 70 | 79 | 89 | 96 | 94 | 87 | 75 | 61 | 52 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
June is the driest month (0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 96 °F). 0.8 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 96 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Big Pine →
Questions about parks and trails in Big Pine
How much of Big Pine is conserved land?
68% 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 Big Pine’s trails?
Mendenhall Park and Big Pine Triangle County Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Big Pine?
119,498 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Big Pine or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,302 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Big Pine have?
Among the top 1% 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 Big Pine 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 →