Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument
Managed by Bureau of Land Management
3,997 acres2.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Chope's Town Cafe and Bar · Photo: Treecholla · CC BY-SA 4.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Chaparral
More than half of Chaparral’s land is conserved: 51%
51% of Chaparral’s land is conserved, about 19,214 acres. The biggest trail networks: Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument (2.4 mi). 7% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns · #48 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it
Conserved land
51%
19,214 acres · of 59.1 sq mi of land
Trails
15 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
20 ac
1.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
7%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Chaparral?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Chaparral have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Chaparral is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #48 of 73 in New Mexico. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Chaparral’s overall grade.
Conserved land51% of the land · typical NM town 4% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (15 mi) · NM 0.9 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land1.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (20 acres) · NM 7 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home7% of residents within a half mile of a park · NM 67% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 38%
LessMore
New Mexico towns of 2,500+ (73)Ahead of 35%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D 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 Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, with 2.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
19,214 conserved acres
51% of Chaparral’s land. Who manages Chaparral’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Bureau of Land Management11,086 ac
State land board8,140 ac
County42 ac
National Public Lands · 11,086 acState Resource Management Area · 8,140 acLocal Park · 42 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Cruces District Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 11,086 | Open |
| State Trust Land State Resource Management Area | State land board | 8,140 | Open |
| Chaparral Community Park Local Park | County | 38 | Open |
| Chaparral Baseball Park Local Park | County | 4 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Chaparral
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Chaparral
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
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
3Baseball
2Tennis
1Soccer
1Skate park
1Basketball
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Chope's Town Cafe and BarBuilding · listed 2015
About itWhen to get out
April is the best month for walking in Chaparral
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) | 10.3 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.8 | 14.2 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.5 | 10.1 |
| High (°F) | 58 | 63 | 71 | 79 | 88 | 96 | 95 | 93 | 88 | 79 | 67 | 57 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
April is the driest month (0.1 in) and June the warmest (highs of 96 °F). 2.0 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 96 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Chaparral →
Next door
Chaparral and its neighbors
Chaparral has the second 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chaparral | 51% | 0.3 | 1 | 7% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Chaparral
Where can I hike in Chaparral?
The longest trail networks: Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, 2.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Chaparral is conserved land?
51% of its land, against a typical 4% for a New Mexico town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Chaparral’s trails?
Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument and Delores C Wright Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Chaparral?
88,201 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Chaparral or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 15,296 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Chaparral have?
Ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #48 of 73 in New Mexico. 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 Chaparral 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 →