All American Park
Park
9 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Peter and Henriette Wyeth Hurd House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Ruidoso Downs
8% of Ruidoso Downs’ land is conserved: 204 acres
14 acres are parks and preserves, 5.1 per 1,000 residents. 64% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Ruidoso Downs, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns · #40 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it
Conserved land
8%
204 acres · of 3.8 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
14 ac
5.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
64%
of residents within ½ mile
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ruidoso Downs have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ruidoso Downs is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #40 of 73 in New Mexico. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ruidoso Downs’ overall grade.
Conserved land8% of the land · typical NM town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NM 0.9 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land5.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (14 acres) · NM 7 · U.S. 13CParks close to home64% of residents within a half mile of a park · NM 67% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 50%
LessMore
New Mexico towns of 2,500+ (73)Ahead of 46%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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 All American Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
204 conserved acres
8% of Ruidoso Downs’ land. Who manages Ruidoso Downs’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service192 ac
Town or city13 ac
National Forest · 192 acLocal Park · 13 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 192 | Open |
| All American Park Local Park | Town or city | 13 | Open |
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
1Basketball
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Ruidoso Downs: April to June
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 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.3 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 50 | 53 | 59 | 66 | 74 | 83 | 83 | 81 | 76 | 68 | 57 | 49 |
| Rain (in) | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.9 |
April is the driest month (0.4 in) and June the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 3.3 inches fall in August, the wettest month. The climate in Ruidoso Downs →
Next door
Ruidoso Downs and its neighbors
Ruidoso Downs 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruidoso Downs | 8% | 0.3 | 5 | 64% | B− |
| Ruidoso | 4% | 1.3 | 40 | 57% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Ruidoso Downs
Where can I hike in Ruidoso Downs?
The longest trail networks: All American Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Ruidoso Downs is conserved land?
8% 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 Ruidoso Downs’ trails?
All American Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Ruidoso Downs?
79,800 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ruidoso Downs or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 198 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Ruidoso Downs have?
Ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #40 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 Ruidoso Downs 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 →