Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve
Managed by Southwest Florida Water Management District
1,235 acres1.3 mi of trail
IndianGrandpaPiglet
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Piperpet · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Thonotosassa
Thonotosassa has 1,308 acres of parks, 83 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve (1.3 mi). 9% of Thonotosassa’s land is conserved, about 1,442 acres. 4.2 miles of mapped trail cross Thonotosassa, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 63% of U.S. towns · #211 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Conserved land
9%
1,442 acres · of 26.5 sq mi of land
Trails
4.2 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,308 ac
83 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
47%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
11 mi
7.7 mi lanes · 2.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
3 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Thonotosassa?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Thonotosassa have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Thonotosassa is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #211 of 638 in Florida. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Thonotosassa’s overall grade.
Conserved land9% of the land · typical FL town 3% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · FL 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land83 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,308 acres) · FL 6 · U.S. 13AParks close to home47% of residents within a half mile of a park · FL 70% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 63%
LessMore
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 67%
Water is 7% of Thonotosassa’s area (2 of 28 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 8%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− 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 Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve, with 1.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
E. L. Bing Park
Managed by Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department
19 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Baker Creek Boat Ramp
Park
11 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
1,442 conserved acres
9% of Thonotosassa’s land. Water is left out: Thonotosassa has 26.5 square miles of land and 1.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Thonotosassa’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional Water Districts2,579 ac
County51 ac
State parks6 ac
Local Resource Management Area · 1,238 acLocal Other or Unknown · 1,197 acWatershed Protection Area · 144 acLocal Park · 51 acState Park · 6 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Hillsborough Flood Detention Area Local Resource Management Area | Regional Water Districts | 1,238 | Open |
| Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Regional Water Districts | 1,197 | Open |
| Lake Thonotosassa Watershed Protection Area | Regional Water Districts | 144 | Closed |
| E. L. Bing Park Local Park | County | 20 | Open |
| Thonotosassa Recreation Center Local Park | County | 20 | Open |
| Thonotosassa Main Street Park Local Park | County | 7 | Open |
| Hillsborough River State Park State Park | State parks | 6 | Open |
| Sterling Heights Recreation Center Local Park | County | 5 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Thonotosassa
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Thonotosassa
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Thonotosassa
Canoe/Kayak LaunchIn Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve
DirectionsPlus 2 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 1.3 miUnpaved · 1.3 mi
Indian0.9 mi
Grandpa0.2 mi
Piglet0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
11 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
7.7 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
2.6 mi
off-road bike paths
0.8 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
6Basketball
2Baseball
1Football
1Tennis
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 Thonotosassa
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) | 10.5 | 11.2 | 11.9 | 12.8 | 13.5 | 13.9 | 13.8 | 13.1 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.7 | 10.4 |
| High (°F) | 71 | 74 | 78 | 83 | 88 | 90 | 91 | 91 | 90 | 85 | 78 | 73 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 3.2 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 9.0 | 6.6 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 2.5 |
November is the driest month (1.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 9.0 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Thonotosassa →
Next door
Thonotosassa and its neighbors
Thonotosassa 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thonotosassa | 9% | 0.2 | 83 | 47% | B |
| Mango | 3% | under 0.1 | 7 | 80% | C+ |
| East Lake-Orient Park | 1% | 0.3 | 16 | 63% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Thonotosassa
Where can I hike in Thonotosassa?
The longest trail networks: Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve, 1.3 miles; Thonotosassa, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Thonotosassa is conserved land?
9% of its land, against a typical 3% for a Florida town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Thonotosassa’s trails?
Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve and Thonotosassa don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Thonotosassa?
11 miles of bike routes are on the map: 7.7 of painted or protected lanes, 2.6 of off-road paths and 0.8 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Thonotosassa?
44,579 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Thonotosassa or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,308 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Thonotosassa have?
Ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #211 of 638 in Florida. 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 Thonotosassa 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 →