Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument
Managed by Bureau of Land Management
33 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
COutdoors
Outdoors in Picacho Hills
Picacho Hills has 9.5 miles of mapped trails, 2.9 for every square mile of land
2% of Picacho Hills’ land is conserved, about 36 acres.
Ahead of 27% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
36 acres · of 3.2 sq mi of land
Trails
9.5 mi
2.9 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Picacho Hills?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Picacho Hills have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Picacho Hills is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Picacho Hills’ overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical NM town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails2.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · NM 0.9 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · NM 7 · U.S. 13DParks close to home0% 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 27%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. 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 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
36 conserved acres
2% of Picacho Hills’ land. Who manages Picacho Hills’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Bureau of Land Management36 ac
National Public Lands · 36 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Cruces District Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 36 | Open |
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Picacho Hills
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) | 10.2 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.8 | 14.3 | 14.1 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.5 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 57 | 63 | 70 | 78 | 86 | 95 | 95 | 93 | 87 | 78 | 66 | 57 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
April is the driest month (0.2 in) and June the warmest (highs of 95 °F). 2.2 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 95 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Picacho Hills →
Next door
Picacho Hills and its neighbors
Picacho Hills 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picacho Hills | 2% | 2.9 | under 1 | under 1% | C |
| Las Cruces | 34% | 1.5 | 10 | 94% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Picacho Hills
Where can I hike in Picacho Hills?
The longest trail networks: Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Picacho Hills is conserved land?
2% 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 Picacho Hills’ trails?
Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Picacho Hills?
97,378 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Picacho Hills or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Picacho Hills have?
Ahead of 27% 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 Picacho Hills 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 →