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Las Placitas Presbyterian Church, Placitas NMPhoto: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Placitas

Placitas has 570 acres of parks, 135 for every 1,000 residents

44 miles of mapped trail cross Placitas, 1.5 per square mile of land. 19% of Placitas’ land is conserved, about 3,485 acres. The biggest trail networks: Cibola National Forest (12.1 mi), Placitas Open Space (9.3 mi).

Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns · #21 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it

Conserved land
19%
3,485 acres · of 29.4 sq mi of land
Trails
44 mi
1.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
570 ac
135 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
9%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
7,602 ft
Crest of Montezuma
Lakes & rivers
3

What kind of outdoors town is Placitas?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Room to roam135 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.A trail town1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 88% of U.S. towns.Land that stays wild19% of the land is conserved; a typical New Mexico town, 4%.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Placitas have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Placitas is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #21 of 73 in New Mexico. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Placitas’ overall grade.
Conserved land19% of the land · typical NM town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (44 mi) · NM 0.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land135 acres of park per 1,000 residents (570 acres) · NM 7 · U.S. 13AParks close to home9% 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 81%
LessMore
New Mexico towns of 2,500+ (73)Ahead of 72%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ 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.

123
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 Cibola National Forest, with 12.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Cibola National Forest

Managed by United States Forest Service
587 acres12.1 mi of trail
Down & OutChalk DustStrip MinePrickly Pear+1
Dogs allowed
Directionsto the trailhead

Placitas Open Space

Managed by City of Albuquerque Open Space
562 acres9.3 mi of trail
Pipeline Rd. Tr.Alta Vista Tr.Las Huertas Creek Tr.L.H. Creek Tr.+1
Dogs allowed
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗

Sandia Mountain Wilderness

Managed by United States Forest Service
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it

3,485 conserved acres

19% of Placitas’ land. Who manages Placitas’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Bureau of Land Management2,382 ac
U.S. Forest Service592 ac
Town or city542 ac
National Public Lands · 2,382 acNational Forest · 592 acLocal Recreation Area · 542 ac
The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Rio Puerco Field Office
National Public Lands
Bureau of Land Management2,382Open
Cibola National Forest
National Forest
U.S. Forest Service592Open
Placitas Open Space
Local Recreation Area
Town or city542Open
Things to do

6 places to go in Placitas

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Peaks in Placitas
Crest of Montezuma7,602 ft elevation
Directions
Lomos Altos6,125 ft elevation
Directions

Plus 2 peaks without a name on the map.

Trails & water

24 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Open to bikes · 16.3 miHorses · 18.8 miUnpaved · 19.7 mi
Montezuma Crest Trail2.9 mi
Down & Out1.8 mi
Pipeline Rd. Tr.1.7 mi
Chalk Dust1.6 mi
Strip Mine1.1 mi
Forest Loop Rd 4450.9 mi
Prickly Pear0.9 mi
EWOK0.9 mi
Alta Vista Tr.0.9 mi
Las Huertas Creek Tr.0.8 mi
14 more trails
Mini Moab
0.6 mi
NxNW
0.6 mi
Sunrise
0.5 mi
ES14
0.4 mi
L.H. Creek Tr.
0.3 mi
ES05
0.2 mi
ED01
0.2 mi
Spur Tr.
0.2 mi
Pretty Little Diddy
0.2 mi
La Puerta Trail
0.2 mi
ES15
0.2 mi
Apache Canyon Trail
0.1 mi
The Handle
0.1 mi
Perdiz Canyon Trail
0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Arroyo AguaArroyo del Ojo del OrroLas Huertas Creek
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
3Tennis
1Soccer
1Equestrian

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

When to get out

The best walking months in Placitas: April and May

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.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)10.010.911.913.014.014.514.313.512.311.210.29.8
High (°F)475261687889908781705646
Rain (in)0.80.70.90.70.60.72.22.11.31.20.80.9

May is the driest month (0.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 2.2 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Placitas →

Next door

Placitas and its neighbors

Placitas has the most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Placitas44 miSanta Ana Pueblo16 miBernalillo3.3 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Placitas19%1.51359%A−
Bernalillo4%0.61569%B
Santa Ana Pueblo1%2.113under 1%C+

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Placitas

Where can I hike in Placitas?

The longest trail networks: Cibola National Forest, 12.1 miles; Placitas Open Space, 9.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Placitas is conserved land?

19% 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 Placitas’ trails?

OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Cibola National Forest and Placitas Open Space. For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Placitas?

38,710 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Placitas or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 3,040 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Placitas have?

Ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #21 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 Placitas neighbors.

Town Square →
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 →