Red Willow Park
Managed by Town of Taos
20 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Zeality · CC BY 2.5B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Taos
Taos has 75 acres of parks, 12 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Red Willow Park (1 mi). 4.3 miles of mapped trail cross Taos, 0.7 per square mile of land. 1% of Taos’ land is conserved, about 51 acres.
Ahead of 47% of U.S. towns · #42 of 73 in New Mexico. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
51 acres · of 6.2 sq mi of land
Trails
4.3 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
75 ac
12 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
50%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.1 mi
3.1 mi lanes
What kind of outdoors town is Taos?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Taos have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Taos is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #42 of 73 in New Mexico. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Taos’ overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical NM town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · NM 0.9 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land12 acres of park per 1,000 residents (75 acres) · NM 7 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home50% 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 47%
LessMore
New Mexico towns of 2,500+ (73)Ahead of 43%
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 Red Willow Park, with 1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Taos Eco Park
Park
24 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Taos County Rodeo Grounds
Park
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Red Willow Park20 acres · 1 mi of trail · Town of Taos
DirectionsTaos Eco Park24 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsTaos Plaza1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsFilemon Sanchez Fairground Park10 acres
DirectionsTaos County Rodeo Grounds9 acres
Who protects it
51 conserved acres
1% of Taos’ land. Who manages Taos’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city30 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits11 ac
County10 ac
Local Park · 40 acUnknown Easement · 11 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 11 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kit Carson Park Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Fred Baca Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | County | 10 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Taos
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Taos
Taos Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Taos
McDonald's PlayPlace
DirectionsPlus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.8 mi
Dos Arroyos Trail0.8 mi
Biking & sports
3.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
9Basketball
9Tennis
8Baseball
1Soccer
1Equestrian
1Skate park
1Football
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →15 places on the National Register, 3 of them National Historic Landmarks
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 11 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Severino Martinez HouseBuilding · listed 1973
About itLa Morada de Nuestra Senora de GuadalupeBuilding · listed 1976
About itHarwood FoundationBuilding · listed 1976
About itGov. Charles Bent HouseBuilding · listed 1978
About itLeon Gaspard HouseBuilding · listed 1979
About itNicholai Fechin HouseDistrict · listed 1979
About itTaos InnBuilding · listed 1982
About itLa Loma Plaza Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1982
About itTaos Downtown Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1982
About it3 more on the History page.
When to get out
The best walking months in 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 | 46 | 55 | 62 | 71 | 82 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 66 | 53 | 42 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 |
February is the driest month (0.5 in) and July the warmest (highs of 84 °F). 2.0 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Taos →
Next door
Taos and its neighbors
Taos has the second most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taos | 1% | 0.7 | 12 | 50% | B− |
| Ranchos de Taos | 1% | 0.2 | 4 | 36% | C− |
| Taos Pueblo | under 1% | 0.8 | under 1 | 1% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Taos
Where can I hike in Taos?
The longest trail networks: Red Willow Park, 1 miles; Taos Eco Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of 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 Taos’ trails?
Red Willow Park and Taos Eco Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Taos?
3.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.1 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Taos?
92,308 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Taos or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 75 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Taos have?
Ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #42 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 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 →