Coast Guard/East Beach
Managed by Glynn County Parks
7 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Coast Guard Station Public Beach Access 27Website ↗
Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in St. Simons
St. Simons has 16 miles of mapped trails, 0.9 for every square mile of land
1% of St. Simons’ land is conserved, about 144 acres. 176 acres are parks and preserves, 11 per 1,000 residents. 62% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 53% of U.S. towns · #74 of 264 in Georgia. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
144 acres · of 16.5 sq mi of land
Trails
16 mi
0.9 per sq mi of land
Park land
176 ac
11 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
62%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
17 mi
17 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
10 beaches
What kind of outdoors town is St. Simons?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does St. Simons have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, St. Simons is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #74 of 264 in Georgia. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of St. Simons’ overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical GA town 2% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.9 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (16 mi) · GA 0.2 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land11 acres of park per 1,000 residents (176 acres) · GA 9 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home62% of residents within a half mile of a park · GA 56% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 53%
LessMore
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (264)Ahead of 72%
Few Georgia towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so St. Simons’ 1% is ahead of 40% of Georgia towns, while its trails per square mile lead 89% of them.
Water is 6% of St. Simons’ area (1 of 18 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 1%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B. 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 Coast Guard/East Beach, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
The John Gilbert Nature Trail at Frederica Marsh
Park
29 acres0.2 mi of trail
The John Gilbert Nature Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Gascoigne Bluff Park
Park
19 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 9 parks & preserves
Coast Guard/East Beach7 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Glynn County Parks
DirectionsThe John Gilbert Nature Trail at Frederica Marsh29 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Gascoigne Bluff Park19 acres
Neptune Park10 acres
DirectionsMallery Park7 acres
Massingale Park6 acres
DirectionsEpworth Park5 acres
DirectionsDemere Park2 acres
DirectionsWildlife Drive1 acres
Who protects it
144 conserved acres
1% of St. Simons’ land. Water is left out: St. Simons has 16.5 square miles of land and 1.0 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages St. Simons’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County101 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits87 ac
National Park Service8 ac
State natural resources2 ac
Local Park · 81 acUnknown Easement · 44 acLocal Conservation Area · 43 acLocal Recreation Area · 20 acNational Monument · 8 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 20 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloody Marsh Local Conservation Area | Land trusts & nonprofits | 43 | Open |
| Gascoigne Bluff Park Local Park | County | 24 | Open |
| Greenspace Program Acquisition Local Recreation Area | County | 14 | Open |
| Glynn County Greenspace Local Park | County | 14 | Open |
| Neptune Park Local Park | County | 9 | Open |
| Fort Frederica National Monument National Monument | National Park Service | 8 | Open |
| Massengale Park Local Park | County | 7 | Open |
| Mallory Park Local Recreation Area | County | 7 | Open |
| Demere Park Local Park | County | 6 | Open |
| Kings Park Local Park | County | 6 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
15 places to go in St. Simons
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in St. Simons
11th Streeth Public Beach Access
Directions5th Street Public Beach Access
Directions6th Street Public Beach Access
Directions7th Street Public Beach Access
Directions9th Street Public Beach Access
DirectionsCedar Street Public Beach Access
DirectionsEast Beach
DirectionsMyrtle Street Public Beach Access
Directions2 more beaches
Neptune Road Public Beach Access
DirectionsThe King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort
DirectionsPublic pools in St. Simons
Country Club Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in St. Simons
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in St. Simons
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
The John Gilbert Nature Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
17 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
17 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
29Golf
27Tennis
8Pickleball
2Baseball
2Soccer
1Skate park
1Beach volleyball
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 2 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in St. Simons: April and May
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) | 10.3 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.7 | 14.2 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.5 | 10.1 |
| High (°F) | 62 | 65 | 71 | 77 | 84 | 89 | 91 | 90 | 86 | 79 | 71 | 64 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 6.0 | 5.1 | 6.5 | 6.0 | 4.3 | 2.1 | 2.8 |
November is the driest month (2.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 6.5 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in St. Simons →
Questions about parks and trails in St. Simons
Where can I hike in St. Simons?
The longest trail networks: Coast Guard/East Beach, 0.3 miles; The John Gilbert Nature Trail at Frederica Marsh, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of St. Simons is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 2% for a Georgia town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on St. Simons’ trails?
Coast Guard/East Beach and The John Gilbert Nature Trail at Frederica Marsh don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in St. Simons?
17 miles of bike routes are on the map: 17 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near St. Simons?
18,748 acres of parks and open public land lie inside St. Simons or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 176 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does St. Simons have?
Ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #74 of 264 in Georgia. 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 St. Simons 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 →