Helotes Natural Area and Disc Golf Course
Park
9 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Helotes
Helotes has 24 acres of parks, 2.5 for every 1,000 residents
79% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.7 miles of mapped trail cross Helotes, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns · #421 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
25 acres · of 6.9 sq mi of land
Trails
1.7 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
24 ac
2.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
79%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.6 mi
0.5 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
3
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Helotes have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Helotes is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #421 of 642 in Texas. 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 Helotes’ overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical TX town 2% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (2 mi) · TX 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land2.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (24 acres) · TX 9 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home79% of residents within a half mile of a park · TX 69% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 30%
LessMore
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 34%
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Helotes’ 1% is ahead of 26% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 51% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Spengler's Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Government Canyon State Natural Area
Managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
25 conserved acres
1% of Helotes’ land. Who manages Helotes’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Joint20 ac
Town or city18 ac
State parks4 ac
Conservation Easement · 38 acState Conservation Area · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 20 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 3 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government Canyon State Natural Area State Conservation Area | State parks | 4 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Helotes
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Helotes
5 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
3 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
27Tennis
5Baseball
4Basketball
3Soccer
2Pickleball
1Disc golf
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 4 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Floore Country StoreBuilding · listed 2005
About itWhen to get out
April is the best month for walking in Helotes
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 | 12.8 | 13.6 | 14.0 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.3 |
| High (°F) | 64 | 68 | 74 | 81 | 86 | 92 | 95 | 96 | 90 | 82 | 72 | 65 |
| Rain (in) | 1.9 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
February is the driest month (1.8 in) and August the warmest (highs of 96 °F). 4.1 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 96 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Helotes →
Next door
Helotes and its neighbors
Helotes 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helotes | 1% | 0.2 | 2 | 79% | C |
| San Antonio | 10% | 0.7 | 21 | 76% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Helotes
How much of Helotes 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 Helotes’ trails?
Helotes Natural Area and Disc Golf Course and Helotes Creek Linear Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Helotes?
0.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Helotes?
17,958 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Helotes or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 24 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Helotes have?
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #421 of 642 in Texas. 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 Helotes 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 →