State Highway 29 Bridge at the Colorado River · Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Buchanan Dam has 7.6 miles of mapped trails, 1.0 for every square mile of land
15% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 36 acres are parks and preserves, 24 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 45% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Buchanan Dam?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Buchanan Dam have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Buchanan Dam is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Buchanan Dam’s 1% is ahead of 31% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 88% of them.
Water is more than half of Buchanan Dam’s area (12 of 20 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Llano County Park
33 conserved acres
1% of Buchanan Dam’s land. Water is left out: Buchanan Dam has 7.7 square miles of land and 12.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Buchanan Dam’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Rock Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 25 | Open |
| Llano County Park Local Park | County | 9 | Open |
9 places to go in Buchanan Dam
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
5 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 named trail and 5 lakes & rivers
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 3 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
April is the best month for walking in Buchanan Dam
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) | 10.4 | 11.1 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.7 | 14.1 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.5 | 10.2 |
| High (°F) | 62 | 65 | 72 | 80 | 86 | 93 | 96 | 97 | 90 | 81 | 70 | 63 |
| Rain (in) | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
January is the driest month (1.6 in) and August the warmest (highs of 97 °F). 4.2 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 97 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Buchanan Dam →
Questions about parks and trails in Buchanan Dam
How much of Buchanan Dam is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Texas town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Buchanan Dam’s trails?
Black Rock Park and Llano County Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Buchanan Dam?
3,438 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Buchanan Dam or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 36 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Buchanan Dam have?
Ahead of 45% 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 Buchanan Dam neighbors.
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 →