Carson National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
20 acres0.4 mi of trail
Talpa Traverse
No dogs
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: David · CC BY 2.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Ranchos de Taos
Few parks or trails are on the map in Ranchos de Taos
10 acres are parks and preserves, 3.8 per 1,000 residents. 36% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.7 miles of mapped trail cross Ranchos de Taos, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 21% of U.S. towns · #63 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
19 acres · of 3.5 sq mi of land
Trails
0.7 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
10 ac
3.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
36%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Ranchos de Taos?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ranchos de Taos have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ranchos de Taos is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns, #63 of 73 in New Mexico. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; trail miles come closest.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ranchos de Taos’ overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical NM town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NM 0.9 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land3.8 acres of park per 1,000 residents (10 acres) · NM 7 · U.S. 13CParks close to home36% of residents within a half mile of a park · NM 67% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 21%
LessMore
New Mexico towns of 2,500+ (73)Ahead of 14%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Ranchos de Taos. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− 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 Carson National Forest, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
19 conserved acres
1% of Ranchos de Taos’ land. Who manages Ranchos de Taos’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service19 ac
National Forest · 19 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carson National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 19 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Ranchos de Taos
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Ranchos de Taos
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Talpa Traverse0.4 mi
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
1Baseball
1Equestrian
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Ranchos de Taos: April to August
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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.6 | 14.4 | 13.5 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| High (°F) | 43 | 47 | 55 | 63 | 72 | 82 | 85 | 82 | 76 | 66 | 53 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 |
February is the driest month (0.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 85 °F). 2.0 inches fall in August, the wettest month. The climate in Ranchos de Taos →
Next door
Ranchos de Taos and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Ranchos de Taos
Where can I hike in Ranchos de Taos?
The longest trail networks: Carson National Forest, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Ranchos de Taos is conserved land?
1% 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 Ranchos de Taos’ trails?
Carson National Forest and Ranchos Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Ranchos de Taos?
99,331 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ranchos de Taos or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 29 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Ranchos de Taos have?
Ahead of 21% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #63 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 Ranchos de Taos 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 →