Veterans Park
Park
6 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Mather
Mather has 1,167 acres of parks, 258 for every 1,000 residents
21% of Mather’s land is conserved, about 1,333 acres. 10 miles of mapped trail cross Mather, 1.0 per square mile of land. 83% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns · #112 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
21%
1,333 acres · of 10.0 sq mi of land
Trails
10 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,167 ac
258 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
83%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
8.9 mi
2.4 mi lanes · 6.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Mather?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mather have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mather is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #112 of 847 in California. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; park acres per resident rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mather’s overall grade.
Conserved land21% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land258 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,167 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13AParks close to home83% 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 95%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 87%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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
The longest trail network is Veterans Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
1,333 conserved acres
21% of Mather’s land. Who manages Mather’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County1,316 ac
Regional agency17 ac
Local Park · 1,153 acLocal Recreation Area · 180 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mather Regional Park Local Park | County | 1,136 | Open |
| Mather Golf Course Local Recreation Area | County | 180 | Restricted |
| Independence Park Local Park | Regional agency | 11 | Open |
| Veterans Park Local Park | Regional agency | 6 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Mather
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mather
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Mather
Sacramento County Animal Shelter Off Leash Dog Park
DirectionsTrails & water
2 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.9 mi
Kiefer Boulevard1.4 mi
Alternate Bike Route0.6 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
8.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.4 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
6.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
8Basketball
3Tennis
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Mather: 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) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 56 | 62 | 67 | 73 | 81 | 89 | 95 | 94 | 90 | 79 | 65 | 57 |
| Rain (in) | 4.2 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.5 |
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 95 °F). 4.2 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 95 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Mather →
Next door
Mather and its neighbors
Mather 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mather | 21% | 1.0 | 258 | 83% | A+ |
| Rancho Cordova | 11% | 0.8 | 20 | 95% | A |
| Rosemont | 1% | 1.0 | 2 | 83% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mather
Where can I hike in Mather?
The longest trail networks: Veterans Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mather is conserved land?
21% 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 Mather’s trails?
Veterans Park and Mather Regional Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Mather?
8.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.4 of painted or protected lanes and 6.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Mather?
15,809 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mather or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,167 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Mather have?
Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #112 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 Mather 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 →