Cibola National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
5 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dogs allowed
No trailhead mapped yet
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Sandia Heights
Sandia Heights has 6 acres of parks, 1.8 for every 1,000 residents
94% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.8 miles of mapped trail cross Sandia Heights, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 41% of U.S. towns · #45 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
10 acres · of 1.8 sq mi of land
Trails
0.8 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
6 ac
1.8 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
94%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.2 mi
2.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Sandia Heights?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sandia Heights have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sandia Heights is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #45 of 73 in New Mexico. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sandia Heights’ overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical NM town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NM 0.9 · U.S. 0.4BPark land1.8 acres of park per 1,000 residents (6 acres) · NM 7 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home94% of residents within a half mile of a park · NM 67% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 41%
LessMore
New Mexico towns of 2,500+ (73)Ahead of 39%
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 Cibola National Forest, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
W. L. Jackson Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Little Cloud Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
10 conserved acres
1% of Sandia Heights’ land. Who manages Sandia Heights’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service5 ac
County4 ac
National Forest · 5 acLocal Park · 4 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cibola National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 5 | Open |
| W. L. Jackson Park Local Park | County | 4 | Open |
| Little Cloud Park Local Park | County | 1 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Sandia Heights
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Sandia Heights
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Sandia Heights: April to June and 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) | 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) | 45 | 50 | 58 | 65 | 75 | 86 | 87 | 84 | 78 | 67 | 54 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.2 |
May is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 2.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Sandia Heights →
Next door
Sandia Heights and its neighbors
Sandia Heights 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandia Heights | 1% | 0.4 | 2 | 94% | C+ |
| Albuquerque | 16% | 1.7 | 19 | 99% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Sandia Heights
Where can I hike in Sandia Heights?
The longest trail networks: Cibola National Forest, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Sandia Heights 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 Sandia Heights’ trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Cibola National Forest. For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Sandia Heights?
2.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Sandia Heights?
37,621 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sandia Heights or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 13 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Sandia Heights have?
Ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #45 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 Sandia Heights 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 →