Sand to Snow National Monument
Managed by United States Forest Service;Bureau of Land Management
7,370 acres7.2 mi of trail
Big Morongo Canyon TrailWest Canyon TrailNorth Star TrailEncilla Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Destiny Diaz · CC BY-SA 4.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Morongo Valley
Morongo Valley has 65 miles of mapped trails, 2.6 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Sand to Snow National Monument (7.2 mi), Big Morongo Canyon Preserve (3.4 mi), San Gorgonio Wilderness (1.5 mi). 20% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 18 acres are parks and preserves, 4.3 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns · #598 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
375 acres · of 25.2 sq mi of land
Trails
65 mi
2.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
18 ac
4.3 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
20%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Morongo Valley?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Morongo Valley have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Morongo Valley is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #598 of 847 in California. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Morongo Valley’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails2.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (65 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land4.3 acres of park per 1,000 residents (18 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13CParks close to home20% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 44%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 29%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− 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
The longest trail network is Sand to Snow National Monument, with 7.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Big Morongo Canyon Preserve
Managed by San Bernardino County Regional Parks
170 acres3.4 mi of trail
Marsh TrailDesert Willow TrailYucca Ridge TrailMesquite Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
San Gorgonio Wilderness
Managed by US Forest Service;BLM
4,098 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Sand to Snow National Monument7,370 acres · 7.2 mi of trail · United States Forest Service;Bureau of Land Management
DirectionsBig Morongo Canyon Preserve170 acres · 3.4 mi of trail · San Bernardino County Regional Parks
DirectionsSan Gorgonio Wilderness4,098 acres · 1.5 mi of trail · US Forest Service;BLM
Geeson Field6 acres
DirectionsCovington Park4 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
375 conserved acres
2% of Morongo Valley’s land. Who manages Morongo Valley’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County179 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits154 ac
State Department of Land39 ac
Regional agency4 ac
Local Conservation Area · 179 acPrivate Conservation · 79 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 75 acState Resource Management Area · 39 acLocal Park · 4 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Morongo Canyon Preserve Local Conservation Area | County | 179 | Open |
| Mojave Desert Land Trust Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 79 | Open |
| Unnamed site - Mojave Desert Land Trust Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 75 | Closed |
| California State Lands Commission State Resource Management Area | State Department of Land | 39 | Open |
| Covington Park Local Park | Regional agency | 4 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Morongo Valley
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Morongo Valley
Covington Park PlaygroundIn Covington Park
DirectionsPlus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Scenic views in Morongo Valley
1 scenic view without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
19 named trails
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.7 mi
Big Morongo Canyon Trail1.4 mi
Desert Willow Trail1.0 mi
West Canyon Trail0.8 mi
Marsh Trail0.7 mi
Mesquite Trail0.7 mi
Yucca Ridge Trail0.7 mi
Hess Boulevard0.7 mi
Sundown Trail0.6 mi
Cheyenne Trail0.6 mi
Apache Trail0.5 mi
9 more trails
North Star Trail
0.5 miBreezeway
0.4 miFox Trail
0.3 miRamona Trail
0.2 miClarks Ps
0.1 miJuniper
0.1 miWhiteside
0.1 miChickasaw Trail
0.1 miEncilla Trail
0.1 miBiking & 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
2Tennis
1Baseball
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Morongo Valley: 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 | 11.3 | 10.3 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 62 | 64 | 69 | 75 | 83 | 93 | 99 | 98 | 92 | 81 | 70 | 61 |
| Rain (in) | 2.0 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
June is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 99 °F). 2.0 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 99 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Morongo Valley →
Questions about parks and trails in Morongo Valley
Where can I hike in Morongo Valley?
The longest trail networks: Sand to Snow National Monument, 7.2 miles; Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, 3.4 miles; San Gorgonio Wilderness, 1.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Morongo Valley is conserved land?
2% 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 Morongo Valley’s trails?
Sand to Snow National Monument and Big Morongo Canyon Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Morongo Valley?
51,756 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Morongo Valley or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 955 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Morongo Valley have?
Ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #598 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 Morongo Valley 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 →