diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/localfs.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/localfs.cc
index 1edc75c4f3d..ea5b1c9e87e 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/localfs.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/localfs.cc
@@ -221,7 +221,14 @@ Status StatSelector(const NativePathString& path, const Selector& select,
 
 }  // namespace
 
-LocalFileSystem::LocalFileSystem() {}
+LocalFileSystemOptions LocalFileSystemOptions::Defaults() {
+  return LocalFileSystemOptions();
+}
+
+LocalFileSystem::LocalFileSystem() : options_(LocalFileSystemOptions::Defaults()) {}
+
+LocalFileSystem::LocalFileSystem(const LocalFileSystemOptions& options)
+    : options_(options) {}
 
 LocalFileSystem::~LocalFileSystem() {}
 
@@ -332,20 +339,34 @@ Status LocalFileSystem::CopyFile(const std::string& src, const std::string& dest
 #endif
 }
 
+namespace {
+
+template <typename OutputStreamType>
+Status OpenInputStreamGeneric(const std::string& path,
+                              const LocalFileSystemOptions& options,
+                              std::shared_ptr<OutputStreamType>* out) {
+  if (options.use_mmap) {
+    std::shared_ptr<io::MemoryMappedFile> file;
+    RETURN_NOT_OK(io::MemoryMappedFile::Open(path, io::FileMode::READ, &file));
+    *out = std::move(file);
+  } else {
+    std::shared_ptr<io::ReadableFile> file;
+    RETURN_NOT_OK(io::ReadableFile::Open(path, &file));
+    *out = std::move(file);
+  }
+  return Status::OK();
+}
+
+}  // namespace
+
 Status LocalFileSystem::OpenInputStream(const std::string& path,
                                         std::shared_ptr<io::InputStream>* out) {
-  std::shared_ptr<io::ReadableFile> file;
-  RETURN_NOT_OK(io::ReadableFile::Open(path, &file));
-  *out = std::move(file);
-  return Status::OK();
+  return OpenInputStreamGeneric(path, options_, out);
 }
 
 Status LocalFileSystem::OpenInputFile(const std::string& path,
                                       std::shared_ptr<io::RandomAccessFile>* out) {
-  std::shared_ptr<io::ReadableFile> file;
-  RETURN_NOT_OK(io::ReadableFile::Open(path, &file));
-  *out = std::move(file);
-  return Status::OK();
+  return OpenInputStreamGeneric(path, options_, out);
 }
 
 namespace {
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/localfs.h b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/localfs.h
index 57da283b036..7a8f2145ae5 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/localfs.h
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/localfs.h
@@ -26,6 +26,16 @@
 namespace arrow {
 namespace fs {
 
+/// Options for the LocalFileSystem implementation.
+struct ARROW_EXPORT LocalFileSystemOptions {
+  /// Whether OpenInputStream and OpenInputFile return a mmap'ed file,
+  /// or a regular one.
+  bool use_mmap = false;
+
+  /// \brief Initialize with defaults
+  static LocalFileSystemOptions Defaults();
+};
+
 /// \brief EXPERIMENTAL: a FileSystem implementation accessing files
 /// on the local machine.
 ///
@@ -36,6 +46,7 @@ namespace fs {
 class ARROW_EXPORT LocalFileSystem : public FileSystem {
  public:
   LocalFileSystem();
+  explicit LocalFileSystem(const LocalFileSystemOptions&);
   ~LocalFileSystem() override;
 
   /// \cond FALSE
@@ -66,6 +77,9 @@ class ARROW_EXPORT LocalFileSystem : public FileSystem {
 
   Status OpenAppendStream(const std::string& path,
                           std::shared_ptr<io::OutputStream>* out) override;
+
+ protected:
+  LocalFileSystemOptions options_;
 };
 
 }  // namespace fs
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/localfs_test.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/localfs_test.cc
index 30a474b112c..d92caf99c88 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/localfs_test.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/filesystem/localfs_test.cc
@@ -72,12 +72,14 @@ class TestLocalFSGeneric : public LocalFSTestMixin, public GenericFileSystemTest
  public:
   void SetUp() override {
     LocalFSTestMixin::SetUp();
-    local_fs_ = std::make_shared<LocalFileSystem>();
+    local_fs_ = std::make_shared<LocalFileSystem>(options());
     auto path = PathFormatter()(temp_dir_->path());
     fs_ = std::make_shared<SubTreeFileSystem>(path, local_fs_);
   }
 
  protected:
+  virtual LocalFileSystemOptions options() { return LocalFileSystemOptions::Defaults(); }
+
   std::shared_ptr<FileSystem> GetEmptyFileSystem() override { return fs_; }
 
   std::shared_ptr<LocalFileSystem> local_fs_;
@@ -88,6 +90,17 @@ TYPED_TEST_CASE(TestLocalFSGeneric, PathFormatters);
 
 GENERIC_FS_TYPED_TEST_FUNCTIONS(TestLocalFSGeneric);
 
+class TestLocalFSGenericMMap : public TestLocalFSGeneric<CommonPathFormatter> {
+ protected:
+  LocalFileSystemOptions options() override {
+    auto options = LocalFileSystemOptions::Defaults();
+    options.use_mmap = true;
+    return options;
+  }
+};
+
+GENERIC_FS_TEST_FUNCTIONS(TestLocalFSGenericMMap);
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // Concrete LocalFileSystem tests
 
diff --git a/cpp/src/arrow/io/file.cc b/cpp/src/arrow/io/file.cc
index 3a9306300d7..767b4eccace 100644
--- a/cpp/src/arrow/io/file.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/arrow/io/file.cc
@@ -433,6 +433,13 @@ class MemoryMappedFile::MemoryMap
 
   bool closed() const { return !file_->is_open(); }
 
+  Status CheckClosed() const {
+    if (closed()) {
+      return Status::Invalid("Invalid operation on closed file");
+    }
+    return Status::OK();
+  }
+
   Status Open(const std::string& path, FileMode::type mode, const int64_t offset = 0,
               const int64_t length = -1) {
     file_.reset(new OSFile());
@@ -636,20 +643,26 @@ Status MemoryMappedFile::Open(const std::string& path, FileMode::type mode,
 }
 
 Status MemoryMappedFile::GetSize(int64_t* size) const {
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(memory_map_->CheckClosed());
   *size = memory_map_->size();
   return Status::OK();
 }
 
 Status MemoryMappedFile::GetSize(int64_t* size) {
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(memory_map_->CheckClosed());
   return static_cast<const MemoryMappedFile*>(this)->GetSize(size);
 }
 
 Status MemoryMappedFile::Tell(int64_t* position) const {
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(memory_map_->CheckClosed());
   *position = memory_map_->position();
   return Status::OK();
 }
 
-Status MemoryMappedFile::Seek(int64_t position) { return memory_map_->Seek(position); }
+Status MemoryMappedFile::Seek(int64_t position) {
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(memory_map_->CheckClosed());
+  return memory_map_->Seek(position);
+}
 
 Status MemoryMappedFile::Close() { return memory_map_->Close(); }
 
@@ -657,6 +670,7 @@ bool MemoryMappedFile::closed() const { return memory_map_->closed(); }
 
 Status MemoryMappedFile::ReadAt(int64_t position, int64_t nbytes,
                                 std::shared_ptr<Buffer>* out) {
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(memory_map_->CheckClosed());
   // if the file is writable, we acquire the lock before creating any slices
   // in case a resize is triggered concurrently, otherwise we wouldn't detect
   // a change in the use count
@@ -668,6 +682,7 @@ Status MemoryMappedFile::ReadAt(int64_t position, int64_t nbytes,
 
 Status MemoryMappedFile::ReadAt(int64_t position, int64_t nbytes, int64_t* bytes_read,
                                 void* out) {
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(memory_map_->CheckClosed());
   auto guard_resize = memory_map_->writable()
                           ? std::unique_lock<std::mutex>(memory_map_->resize_lock())
                           : std::unique_lock<std::mutex>();
@@ -680,12 +695,14 @@ Status MemoryMappedFile::ReadAt(int64_t position, int64_t nbytes, int64_t* bytes
 }
 
 Status MemoryMappedFile::Read(int64_t nbytes, int64_t* bytes_read, void* out) {
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(memory_map_->CheckClosed());
   RETURN_NOT_OK(ReadAt(memory_map_->position(), nbytes, bytes_read, out));
   memory_map_->advance(*bytes_read);
   return Status::OK();
 }
 
 Status MemoryMappedFile::Read(int64_t nbytes, std::shared_ptr<Buffer>* out) {
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(memory_map_->CheckClosed());
   RETURN_NOT_OK(ReadAt(memory_map_->position(), nbytes, out));
   memory_map_->advance((*out)->size());
   return Status::OK();
@@ -694,6 +711,7 @@ Status MemoryMappedFile::Read(int64_t nbytes, std::shared_ptr<Buffer>* out) {
 bool MemoryMappedFile::supports_zero_copy() const { return true; }
 
 Status MemoryMappedFile::WriteAt(int64_t position, const void* data, int64_t nbytes) {
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(memory_map_->CheckClosed());
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> guard(memory_map_->write_lock());
 
   if (!memory_map_->opened() || !memory_map_->writable()) {
@@ -712,6 +730,7 @@ Status MemoryMappedFile::WriteAt(int64_t position, const void* data, int64_t nby
 }
 
 Status MemoryMappedFile::Write(const void* data, int64_t nbytes) {
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(memory_map_->CheckClosed());
   std::lock_guard<std::mutex> guard(memory_map_->write_lock());
 
   if (!memory_map_->opened() || !memory_map_->writable()) {
@@ -731,6 +750,7 @@ Status MemoryMappedFile::WriteInternal(const void* data, int64_t nbytes) {
 }
 
 Status MemoryMappedFile::Resize(int64_t new_size) {
+  RETURN_NOT_OK(memory_map_->CheckClosed());
   std::unique_lock<std::mutex> write_guard(memory_map_->write_lock(), std::defer_lock);
   std::unique_lock<std::mutex> resize_guard(memory_map_->resize_lock(), std::defer_lock);
   std::lock(write_guard, resize_guard);
diff --git a/python/pyarrow/_fs.pyx b/python/pyarrow/_fs.pyx
index 39079aee105..f4e2455e7b2 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/_fs.pyx
+++ b/python/pyarrow/_fs.pyx
@@ -453,21 +453,67 @@ cdef class FileSystem:
         )
 
 
+cdef class LocalFileSystemOptions:
+    """Options for LocalFileSystemOptions.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    use_mmap: bool, default False
+        Whether open_input_stream and open_input_file should return
+        a mmap'ed file or a regular file.
+    """
+    cdef:
+        CLocalFileSystemOptions options
+
+    # Avoid mistakingly creating attributes
+    __slots__ = ()
+
+    def __init__(self, use_mmap=None):
+        self.options = CLocalFileSystemOptions.Defaults()
+        if use_mmap is not None:
+            self.use_mmap = use_mmap
+
+    @property
+    def use_mmap(self):
+        """
+        Whether open_input_stream and open_input_file should return
+        a mmap'ed file or a regular file.
+        """
+        return self.options.use_mmap
+
+    @use_mmap.setter
+    def use_mmap(self, value):
+        self.options.use_mmap = value
+
+
 cdef class LocalFileSystem(FileSystem):
     """A FileSystem implementation accessing files on the local machine.
 
     Details such as symlinks are abstracted away (symlinks are always followed,
     except when deleting an entry).
-    """
 
-    def __init__(self):
-        cdef shared_ptr[CLocalFileSystem] wrapped
-        wrapped = make_shared[CLocalFileSystem]()
-        self.init(<shared_ptr[CFileSystem]> wrapped)
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    options: LocalFileSystemOptions, default None
+    kwargs: individual named options, for convenience
 
-    cdef init(self, const shared_ptr[CFileSystem]& wrapped):
-        FileSystem.init(self, wrapped)
-        self.localfs = <CLocalFileSystem*> wrapped.get()
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, LocalFileSystemOptions options=None, **kwargs):
+        cdef:
+            CLocalFileSystemOptions c_options
+            shared_ptr[CLocalFileSystem] c_fs
+
+        options = options or LocalFileSystemOptions()
+        for k, v in kwargs.items():
+            setattr(options, k, v)
+        c_options = options.options
+        c_fs = make_shared[CLocalFileSystem](c_options)
+        self.init(<shared_ptr[CFileSystem]> c_fs)
+
+    cdef init(self, const shared_ptr[CFileSystem]& c_fs):
+        FileSystem.init(self, c_fs)
+        self.localfs = <CLocalFileSystem*> c_fs.get()
 
 
 cdef class SubTreeFileSystem(FileSystem):
diff --git a/python/pyarrow/fs.py b/python/pyarrow/fs.py
index 5f257d07f30..7b6d242a06c 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/fs.py
+++ b/python/pyarrow/fs.py
@@ -23,5 +23,6 @@
     FileStats,
     FileSystem,
     LocalFileSystem,
+    LocalFileSystemOptions,
     SubTreeFileSystem
 )
diff --git a/python/pyarrow/includes/libarrow.pxd b/python/pyarrow/includes/libarrow.pxd
index cb8d3b28d09..1c3f962c4c0 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/includes/libarrow.pxd
+++ b/python/pyarrow/includes/libarrow.pxd
@@ -1100,8 +1100,15 @@ cdef extern from "arrow/filesystem/api.h" namespace "arrow::fs" nogil:
         CStatus OpenAppendStream(const c_string& path,
                                  shared_ptr[COutputStream]* out)
 
+    cdef cppclass CLocalFileSystemOptions "arrow::fs::LocalFileSystemOptions":
+        c_bool use_mmap
+
+        @staticmethod
+        CLocalFileSystemOptions Defaults()
+
     cdef cppclass CLocalFileSystem "arrow::fs::LocalFileSystem"(CFileSystem):
-        LocalFileSystem()
+        CLocalFileSystem()
+        CLocalFileSystem(CLocalFileSystemOptions)
 
     cdef cppclass CSubTreeFileSystem \
             "arrow::fs::SubTreeFileSystem"(CFileSystem):
diff --git a/python/pyarrow/tests/test_fs.py b/python/pyarrow/tests/test_fs.py
index f6b6bf1d18c..c728df5813f 100644
--- a/python/pyarrow/tests/test_fs.py
+++ b/python/pyarrow/tests/test_fs.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 import pyarrow as pa
 from pyarrow.tests.test_io import gzip_compress, gzip_decompress
 from pyarrow.fs import (FileType, Selector, FileSystem, LocalFileSystem,
-                        SubTreeFileSystem)
+                        LocalFileSystemOptions, SubTreeFileSystem)
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
@@ -39,6 +39,16 @@ def localfs(request, tempdir):
     )
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def localfs_with_mmap(request, tempdir):
+    return dict(
+        fs=LocalFileSystem(use_mmap=True),
+        pathfn=lambda p: (tempdir / p).as_posix(),
+        allow_move_dir=True,
+        allow_append_to_file=True,
+    )
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
 def subtree_localfs(request, tempdir, localfs):
     prefix = 'subtree/prefix/'
@@ -91,6 +101,10 @@ def subtree_s3fs(request, s3fs):
         pytest.lazy_fixture('localfs'),
         id='LocalFileSystem()'
     ),
+    pytest.param(
+        pytest.lazy_fixture('localfs_with_mmap'),
+        id='LocalFileSystem(use_mmap=True)'
+    ),
     pytest.param(
         pytest.lazy_fixture('subtree_localfs'),
         id='SubTreeFileSystem(LocalFileSystem())'
@@ -391,6 +405,26 @@ def test_open_append_stream(fs, pathfn, compression, buffer_size, compressor,
             fs.open_append_stream(p, compression, buffer_size)
 
 
+def test_localfs_options():
+    options = LocalFileSystemOptions()
+    assert options.use_mmap is False
+    options.use_mmap = True
+    assert options.use_mmap is True
+
+    with pytest.raises(AttributeError):
+        options.xxx = True
+
+    options = LocalFileSystemOptions(use_mmap=True)
+    assert options.use_mmap is True
+
+    # LocalFileSystem instantiation
+    LocalFileSystem(LocalFileSystemOptions(use_mmap=True))
+    LocalFileSystem(use_mmap=False)
+
+    with pytest.raises(AttributeError):
+        LocalFileSystem(xxx=False)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.s3
 def test_s3_options(minio_server):
     from pyarrow.s3fs import S3Options