Horseshoe Bay Nature Park
Park
10 acres0.5 mi of trail
Live Oak Loop Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Horseshoe Bay
Horseshoe Bay has 5.8 miles of mapped trails, 0.4 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Horseshoe Bay Nature Park (0.5 mi). 16 acres are parks and preserves, 3.3 per 1,000 residents. 44% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 24% of U.S. towns · #476 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
8 acres · of 14.3 sq mi of land
Trails
5.8 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
16 ac
3.3 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
44%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Horseshoe Bay have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Horseshoe Bay is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #476 of 642 in Texas. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Horseshoe Bay’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical TX town 2% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · TX 0.2 · U.S. 0.4BPark land3.3 acres of park per 1,000 residents (16 acres) · TX 9 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home44% of residents within a half mile of a park · TX 69% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 24%
LessMore
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 26%
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Horseshoe Bay’s under 1% is ahead of 15% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 64% of them.
Water is 14% of Horseshoe Bay’s area (2 of 17 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Horseshoe Bay. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on 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
The longest trail network is Horseshoe Bay Nature Park, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Martin Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
8 conserved acres
under 1% of Horseshoe Bay’s land. Water is left out: Horseshoe Bay has 14.3 square miles of land and 2.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Horseshoe Bay’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city10 ac
Private owners4 ac
Conservation Easement · 8 acLocal Park · 6 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Fox Park Local Park | Private owners | 2 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Horseshoe Bay
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Horseshoe Bay
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Horseshoe Bay
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.5 mi
Live Oak Loop Trail0.5 mi
Leftward0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
5Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
April is the best month for walking in Horseshoe Bay
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 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.2 |
| High (°F) | 62 | 66 | 73 | 80 | 86 | 93 | 96 | 97 | 90 | 81 | 70 | 63 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
January is the driest month (1.8 in) and August the warmest (highs of 97 °F). 4.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 97 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Horseshoe Bay →
Next door
Horseshoe Bay and its neighbors
Horseshoe Bay has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horseshoe Bay | under 1% | 0.4 | 3 | 44% | C− |
| Sunrise Beach Village | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Cottonwood Shores | 6% | under 0.1 | 14 | 89% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Horseshoe Bay
Where can I hike in Horseshoe Bay?
The longest trail networks: Horseshoe Bay Nature Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Horseshoe Bay is conserved land?
under 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 Horseshoe Bay’s trails?
Horseshoe Bay Nature Park and Martin Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Horseshoe Bay?
1,748 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Horseshoe Bay or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 18 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Horseshoe Bay have?
Ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #476 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 Horseshoe Bay 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 →