Bud Phelps Wildlife Management Area
Managed by Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
280 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Benson
Benson has 21 miles of mapped trails, 0.7 for every square mile of land
1 acre is park or preserve, 0.5 per 1,000 residents. 10% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 2% of Benson’s land is conserved, about 322 acres.
Ahead of 24% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
322 acres · of 30.1 sq mi of land
Trails
21 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
1 ac
0.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
10%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers
1
3 boat launches
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Benson have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Benson is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Benson’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical UT town 3% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (21 mi) · UT 1.1 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land0.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1 acre) · UT 7 · U.S. 13DParks close to home10% of residents within a half mile of a park · UT 91% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 24%
LessMore
Water is 9% of Benson’s area (3 of 33 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 2%.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Benson. 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 D 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 Bud Phelps WMA, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
322 conserved acres
2% of Benson’s land. Water is left out: Benson has 30.1 square miles of land and 3.0 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Benson’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife288 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)30 ac
Other state land4 ac
State Conservation Area · 288 acAgricultural Easement · 30 acState Other or Unknown · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bud Phelps State Wildlife Area State Conservation Area | State fish & wildlife | 288 | Restricted |
| State of Utah Deptartment of Transportation 5304 State Other or Unknown | Other state land | 4 | Unknown |
Things to do
4 places to go in Benson
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Dog parks in Benson
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Benson
3 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
6 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 3.9 miUnpaved · 0.6 mi
1400 South1.0 mi
4400 West0.5 mi
1800 South0.4 mi
3400 West0.3 mi
3500 South0.3 mi
2400 West0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Benson: April to June and September
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) | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 14.5 | 15.2 | 14.9 | 13.8 | 12.4 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| High (°F) | 33 | 38 | 51 | 59 | 69 | 80 | 90 | 88 | 78 | 63 | 47 | 34 |
| Rain (in) | 1.8 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.7 |
July is the driest month (0.5 in) and the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 2.3 inches fall in May, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Benson →
Next door
Benson and its neighbors
Benson has the second most mapped trails of the 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benson | 2% | 0.7 | 1 | 10% | C− |
| Peter | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Logan | 3% | 1.4 | 8 | 93% | B+ |
| Amalga | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Cache | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Wellsville | 14% | 1.1 | 18 | 87% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Benson
Where can I hike in Benson?
The longest trail networks: Bud Phelps Wildlife Management Area, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Benson is conserved land?
2% of its land, against a typical 3% for an Utah town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Benson’s trails?
Bud Phelps Wildlife Management Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Benson?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Benson?
7,484 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Benson or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Benson have?
Ahead of 24% 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 Benson 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 →