Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
2,829 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Bluesnote · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Thousand Palms
44% of Thousand Palms’ land is conserved: 6,605 acres
1,869 acres are parks and preserves, 242 per 1,000 residents. 30 miles of mapped trail cross Thousand Palms, 1.3 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge (0.6 mi).
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns · #134 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
44%
6,605 acres · of 23.6 sq mi of land
Trails
30 mi
1.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,869 ac
242 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
59%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.8 mi
1.8 mi lanes
What kind of outdoors town is Thousand Palms?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Thousand Palms have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Thousand Palms is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #134 of 847 in California. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Thousand Palms’ overall grade.
Conserved land44% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (30 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land242 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,869 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13AParks close to home59% 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 94%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 84%
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 Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
6,605 conserved acres
44% of Thousand Palms’ land. Who manages Thousand Palms’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service6,701 ac
State fish & wildlife1,899 ac
State conservation1,215 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits102 ac
Joint75 ac
County16 ac
Regional agency3 ac
National Wildlife Refuge · 6,701 acState Conservation Area · 1,899 acState Other or Unknown · 1,215 acConservation Easement · 54 acUnknown · 50 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 79 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 12 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 6,701 | Restricted |
| Coachella Valley Ecological Reserve State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 1,899 | Open |
| Unnamed site - Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy State Other or Unknown | State conservation | 1,176 | Open |
| Unnamed site - Coachella Valley Conservation Commission Unknown | Joint | 50 | Open |
| Coachella Valley Preserve - Wildlife Conservation Board State Other or Unknown | State conservation | 39 | Open |
| Unnamed site - Center for Natural Lands Management Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 38 | Unknown |
| Thousand Palms Community Park Local Park | County | 16 | Restricted |
| Unnamed site - Friends of the Desert Mountains Private Other or Unknown | Land trusts & nonprofits | 10 | Open |
| Thousand Palms Community Center and Park Local Recreation Area | Regional agency | 3 | Open |
Trails & water
4 named trails
Named trails
Horses · 0.7 miUnpaved · 14.5 mi
Vista de Oro1.0 mi
Vista Chino0.7 mi
Willis Palms Loop0.7 mi
Calle Desierto0.5 mi
Biking & sports
1.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.8 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
6Tennis
2Basketball
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 Thousand Palms
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 | 10.4 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 70 | 73 | 80 | 86 | 93 | 102 | 107 | 106 | 101 | 90 | 78 | 68 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 |
June is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 107 °F). 0.8 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 107 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Thousand Palms →
Next door
Thousand Palms and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thousand Palms | 44% | 1.3 | 242 | 59% | A |
| Desert Palms | under 1% | 6.1 | 1 | 67% | C+ |
| Sky Valley | 23% | 1.6 | 442 | 38% | A |
| Palm Desert | 7% | 2.1 | 4 | 50% | B |
| Cathedral City | 8% | 0.9 | 2 | 56% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Thousand Palms
Where can I hike in Thousand Palms?
The longest trail networks: Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Thousand Palms is conserved land?
44% 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 Thousand Palms’ trails?
Coachella Valley National Wildlife Refuge and Thousand Palms Community Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Thousand Palms?
1.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.8 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Thousand Palms?
51,132 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Thousand Palms or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4,161 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Thousand Palms have?
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #134 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 Thousand Palms 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 →