Violin Canyon Open Space
Managed by Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority
370 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
BOutdoors
Outdoors in Castaic
9% of Castaic’s land is conserved: 398 acres
419 acres are parks and preserves, 23 per 1,000 residents. 0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Castaic, 0.1 per square mile of land. 69% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns · #468 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
9%
398 acres · of 7.3 sq mi of land
Trails
0.4 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
419 ac
23 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
69%
of residents within ½ mile
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Castaic have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Castaic is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #468 of 847 in California. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Castaic’s overall grade.
Conserved land9% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land23 acres of park per 1,000 residents (419 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home69% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 56%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 45%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− 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.
Castaic Lake State Recreation Area
Managed by Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Lot 1Website ↗
Hasley Canyon Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Camino Del Valle Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
398 conserved acres
9% of Castaic’s land. Who manages Castaic’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency410 ac
State parks17 ac
County11 ac
Local Conservation Area · 370 acLocal Other or Unknown · 40 acState Recreation Area · 17 acLocal Park · 11 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Creek Valley Preserve Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 370 | Open |
| Unnamed Site - Mountains Recreation And Conservation Authority Local Other or Unknown | Regional agency | 40 | Open |
| Castaic Lake State Recreation Area State Recreation Area | State parks | 17 | Open |
| Del Valle Park Local Park | County | 5 | Open |
| Hasley Canyon Park Local Park | County | 5 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Castaic
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in Castaic
Hasley Hills
DirectionsHillcrest Peak
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Old Ridge Route0.3 mi
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
2Football
1Soccer
1Multi-sport
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Castaic: 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) | 64 | 65 | 69 | 74 | 79 | 87 | 93 | 95 | 90 | 81 | 71 | 63 |
| Rain (in) | 4.4 | 5.1 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 3.0 |
August is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 95 °F). 5.1 inches fall in February, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 95 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Castaic →
Next door
Castaic and its neighbors
Castaic has the second most mapped trails of the 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castaic | 9% | 0.1 | 23 | 69% | B |
| Hasley Canyon | under 1% | 0.9 | 3 | 3% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Castaic
How much of Castaic is conserved land?
9% 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 Castaic’s trails?
Violin Canyon Open Space and Castaic Lake State Recreation Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Castaic?
83,729 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Castaic or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 419 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Castaic have?
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #468 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 Castaic 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 →