Joshua Tree National Park
Managed by National Park Service
14 acres
Dogs usually limited
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Sky Valley
Sky Valley has 996 acres of parks, 442 for every 1,000 residents
23% of Sky Valley’s land is conserved, about 3,596 acres. 38 miles of mapped trail cross Sky Valley, 1.6 per square mile of land. 38% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
23%
3,596 acres · of 24.3 sq mi of land
Trails
38 mi
1.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
996 ac
442 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
38%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
8
What kind of outdoors town is Sky Valley?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sky Valley have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sky Valley is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sky Valley’s overall grade.
Conserved land23% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (38 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land442 acres of park per 1,000 residents (996 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13AParks close to home38% 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 90%
LessMore
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Joshua Tree Wilderness
Managed by National Park Service
13 acres
Dogs usually limited
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
3,596 conserved acres
23% of Sky Valley’s land. Who manages Sky Valley’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation1,989 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits974 ac
Joint622 ac
Regional agency516 ac
National Park Service10 ac
State Other or Unknown · 1,989 acUnknown · 622 acLocal Conservation Area · 516 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 510 acPrivate Conservation · 465 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed site - Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy State Other or Unknown | State conservation | 1,989 | Open |
| Unnamed site - Coachella Valley Conservation Commission Unknown | Joint | 622 | Open |
| Coachella Valley Association Of Governments Reserve Local Conservation Area | Regional agency | 516 | Open |
| Unnamed site - Friends of the Desert Mountains Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 510 | Open |
| Joshua Tree National Park Linkage Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 301 | Open |
| Coachella Valley Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 164 | Open |
| Joshua Tree National Park National Park | National Park Service | 10 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Sky Valley
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Sky Valley
Dog parks in Sky Valley
2 dog parks without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Scenic views in Sky Valley
1 scenic view without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Sky Valley
1 peak without a name on the map.
Picnic areas in Sky Valley
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
6 named trails and 8 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 5.2 mi
Moon Country Trail0.6 mi
Alpha Trail0.2 mi
McCallum Trail0.2 mi
Hot Springs Trail0.2 mi
Lin Mar Court0.1 mi
Lyons Boulevard0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
2Tennis
1Pickleball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Sky Valley
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) | 67 | 70 | 76 | 83 | 91 | 101 | 105 | 105 | 99 | 87 | 75 | 66 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
June is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 105 °F). 1.4 inches fall in February, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 105 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Sky Valley →
Next door
Sky Valley and its neighbors
Sky Valley has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sky Valley | 23% | 1.6 | 442 | 38% | A |
| Thousand Palms | 44% | 1.3 | 242 | 59% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Sky Valley
How much of Sky Valley is conserved land?
23% 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 Sky Valley’s trails?
Joshua Tree National Park and Joshua Tree Wilderness don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Sky Valley?
59,995 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sky Valley or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5,919 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Sky Valley have?
Ahead of 90% 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 Sky 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 →