1
Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
1,151 acres3.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Outdoors · McAllen
McAllen, TX parks, trails & bike paths
About 4.6% of McAllen is conserved land, roughly 1,830 acres. There are about 21 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge (3.2 mi), Bill Schupp Park (1 mi), and Zinnia Park (0.7 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in McAllen, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
McAllen outdoors
Conserved land
4.6%
1,830 of 40,034 acres
Trails
21 mi
0.3 mi per sq mi · 10 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
44
13 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
24.0 mi
12.1 mi lanes · 11.9 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Bill Schupp Park
Park
20 acres1 mi of trail
North County Trailway
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
3
Zinnia Park
Park
19 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Westside Park
Park
49 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
Tres Lagos Park
Park
21 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
6
Gonzalez City/School Park
Park
10 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
7
Memorial Park
Park
4 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
8
McAllen Youth Baseball Complex
Park
51 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 44 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 44 parks & preserves
Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge1,151 acres · 3.2 mi of trail · United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Bill Schupp Park20 acres · 1 mi of trail
Zinnia Park19 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Westside Park49 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Tres Lagos Park21 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Gonzalez City/School Park10 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Memorial Park4 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
McAllen Youth Baseball Complex51 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Jaycee Park12 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
McAllen Sports Park54 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Playgrounds in McAllen
Showing 1–10 of 50 playgrounds
Disney Junior Play Zone
Kid's WonderlandHours: Mon–Thu 11 am – 8 pm; Fri 11 am – 9 pm; Sat 10 am – 9 pm; Sun 11 am – 7 pm
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in Idela Park
Unnamed playground in Westside Park
Unnamed playground in Idela Park
Unnamed playground in Los Encinos Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in Palm View Park
1 more unnamed playgrounds are mapped in McAllen.
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 1.1 miUnpaved 5.3 mi
- North County Trailway0.8 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Bentsen LakeBoeye ReservoirLake ConceptionTown Lakelakecity public poolHackney Lake InletRío Bravo / Rio Grande
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
1,830 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 13 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes12.1 mi
- Off-road bike paths11.9 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis114
- Basketball33
- Baseball31
- Soccer27
- Beach volleyball15
- Football5
- Softball4
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in McAllen
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
National Wildlife Refuge 2,328 acConservation Easement 381 acLocal Park 369 acRecreation or Education Easement 275 acLocal Recreation Area 274 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife RefugeNational Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 2,328 | Restricted |
| Motorcross ParkLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 52 | Open |
| Baseball BaseLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 51 | Open |
| Westside ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 40 | Open |
| Mcallen Disc GolfLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 33 | Open |
| DeLeon Sports ComplexLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 32 | Open |
| McAllen Botanical Garden and Nature CenterLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Mesquite Trail ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 30 | Open |
| Springfest ParkLocal Recreation Area | Town or city | 29 | Open |
| Mcauliffe RdfLocal Park | Town or city | 28 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Showing 1–10 of 28 places
Archer ParkIn Archer Park · Plaque · 1981
Asociación del Cementerio La PiedadPlaque · 2005
BessiePlaque · 1975
Bethel Baptist ChurchPlaque · 2015
Campsite of the "Fighting 69th"Plaque · 1970
Casa de PalmasPlaque · 1979
First Presbyterian Church of McAllenPlaque · 1995
La Piedad CemeteryPlaque · 2005
Lamar Junior High SchoolPlaque · 2009
M. & J. Nelson BuildingPlaque · 2007
Nearby
McAllen and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about McAllen's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 44.5-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.