US Post Office-El Centro Main · Photo: Cbl62 · CC BY-SA 3.0El Centro has 152 acres of parks, 3.4 for every 1,000 residents
90% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1% of El Centro’s land is conserved, about 112 acres. 1.5 miles of mapped trail cross El Centro, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 35% of U.S. towns · #657 of 847 in California. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is El Centro?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does El Centro have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, El Centro is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #657 of 847 in California. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
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.
All 16 parks & preserves
112 conserved acres
1% of El Centro’s land. Who manages El Centro’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bucklin Park Local Park | Town or city | 21 | Open |
| Sunflower Park Local Park | Town or city | 18 | Restricted |
| Swarthout Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Stark Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Fraizer Field Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 8 | Open |
| Adams Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| McGee Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| West Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Carlos Aguilar Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Wildflower Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
21 places to go in El Centro
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
16 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
5 picnic areas without a name on the map.
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
5.0 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.
1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 5 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
The walking year in El Centro
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) | 10.2 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.8 | 14.3 | 14.1 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 71 | 74 | 81 | 87 | 95 | 104 | 108 | 107 | 103 | 92 | 79 | 69 |
| Rain (in) | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
June is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 108 °F). 0.4 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 108 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in El Centro →
El Centro and its neighbors
El Centro 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Centro | 1% | 0.1 | 3 | 90% | C+ |
| Imperial | 1% | 0.3 | 2 | 93% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in El Centro
How much of El Centro 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 El Centro’s trails?
Bucklin Park and Sunflower don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in El Centro?
5.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.9 of painted or protected lanes and 2.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near El Centro?
4,770 acres of parks and open public land lie inside El Centro or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 152 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does El Centro have?
Ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #657 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 El Centro 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 →