Photo: GeoffreyLong · CC BY-SA 3.0Few parks or trails are on the map in Mason
157 acres are parks and preserves, 79 per 1,000 residents. 7% of Mason’s land is conserved, about 158 acres. 54% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 49% of U.S. towns. What drives it
How much outdoors does Mason have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mason is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
Few Texas towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Mason’s 7% is ahead of 84% of Texas towns, while its trails per square mile lead 7% of them.
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.
158 conserved acres
7% of Mason’s land. Who manages Mason’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 158 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
1 places to go in Mason
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.
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.
2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 23 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
April is the best month for walking in Mason
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 | 10.6 | 10.2 |
| High (°F) | 61 | 65 | 72 | 80 | 86 | 92 | 95 | 96 | 89 | 80 | 69 | 62 |
| Rain (in) | 1.4 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 1.8 | 1.7 |
January is the driest month (1.4 in) and August the warmest (highs of 96 °F). 3.9 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 96 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Mason →
Questions about parks and trails in Mason
How much of Mason is conserved land?
7% 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.
Is there public land near Mason?
1,011 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mason or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 157 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Mason have?
Ahead of 49% 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 Mason 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 →