El Malpais National Conservation Area
Managed by Bureau of Land Management
266 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
COutdoors
Outdoors in San Rafael
10% of San Rafael’s land is conserved: 1,015 acres
7.6 miles of mapped trail cross San Rafael, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 28% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
1,015 acres · of 15.8 sq mi of land
Trails
7.6 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Near a park
under 1%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
7,090 ft
Cerrito Colorado
What kind of outdoors town is San Rafael?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does San Rafael have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, San Rafael is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of San Rafael’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical NM town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · NM 0.9 · U.S. 0.4BPark 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 28%
LessMore
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 El Malpais National Conservation Area, with 0.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
1,015 conserved acres
10% of San Rafael’s land. Who manages San Rafael’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State land board601 ac
Bureau of Land Management413 ac
State Resource Management Area · 601 acNational Public Lands · 413 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Trust Land State Resource Management Area | State land board | 601 | Open |
| Rio Puerco Field Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 413 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in San Rafael
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Peaks in San Rafael
Cerrito Colorado7,090 ft elevation
DirectionsLoma Pelada6,545 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in San Rafael
Grants KOAKOA
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
County Road 52A0.3 mi
When to get out
The best walking months in San Rafael: 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.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 10.0 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 48 | 52 | 60 | 67 | 77 | 88 | 89 | 86 | 80 | 70 | 57 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
April is the driest month (0.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 2.0 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in San Rafael →
Next door
San Rafael and its neighbors
San Rafael 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Rafael | 10% | 0.5 | under 1 | under 1% | C |
| Grants | 7% | 1.0 | 17 | 77% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in San Rafael
Where can I hike in San Rafael?
The longest trail networks: El Malpais National Conservation Area, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of San Rafael is conserved land?
10% 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 San Rafael’s trails?
El Malpais National Conservation Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near San Rafael?
135,205 acres of parks and open public land lie inside San Rafael or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,016 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does San Rafael have?
Ahead of 28% 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 San Rafael 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 →