Photo: Karl98007 · CC BY-SA 3.0Sonora has 52 acres of parks, 11 for every 1,000 residents
3.3 miles of mapped trail cross Sonora, 1.0 per square mile of land. 81% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Sonora’s land is conserved, about 34 acres.
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns · #427 of 847 in California. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Sonora?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Sonora have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sonora is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #427 of 847 in California. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls 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.
34 conserved acres
2% of Sonora’s land. Who manages Sonora’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| 49'er Rotary Park Local Park | Town or city | 28 | Open |
| Woods Creek Rotary Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Stanislaus Other National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 2 | Open |
5 places to go in Sonora
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Plus 2 picnic areas without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
5 named trails
0.0 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.
6 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Sonora: May and June
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 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 56 | 58 | 62 | 67 | 76 | 86 | 93 | 92 | 88 | 76 | 63 | 55 |
| Rain (in) | 6.1 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 2.9 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 5.7 |
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 93 °F). 6.1 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 93 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Sonora →
Sonora and its neighbors
Sonora 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonora | 2% | 1.0 | 11 | 81% | B |
| Jamestown | 1% | 0.1 | 7 | 52% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Sonora
How much of Sonora 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 Sonora’s trails?
Mother Lode Fairgrounds and Woods Creek Rotary Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Sonora?
76,340 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sonora or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 55 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Sonora have?
Ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #427 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 Sonora 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 →