Whitemarsh Preserve aka Demere Tract
Managed by Chatham County Parks & Recreation
124 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Whitemarsh Island
Whitemarsh Island has 12 miles of mapped trails, 2.0 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Whitemarsh Preserve aka Demere Tract (0.6 mi). 208 acres are parks and preserves, 30 per 1,000 residents. 82% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns · #8 of 264 in Georgia. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
200 acres · of 5.8 sq mi of land
Trails
12 mi
2.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
208 ac
30 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
82%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.5 mi
0.5 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
1
4 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Whitemarsh Island?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Whitemarsh Island have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Whitemarsh Island is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #8 of 264 in Georgia. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, conserved land lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Whitemarsh Island’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical GA town 2% · U.S. 4%BTrails2.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (12 mi) · GA 0.2 · U.S. 0.4APark land30 acres of park per 1,000 residents (208 acres) · GA 9 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home82% 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 86%
LessMore
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (264)Ahead of 97%
Few Georgia towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Whitemarsh Island’s 5% is ahead of 83% of Georgia towns, while its trails per square mile lead 98% of them.
Water is 13% of Whitemarsh Island’s area (1 of 7 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 5%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. 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 Whitemarsh Preserve aka Demere Tract, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Turner Creek Boat Ramp
Managed by Chatham County Parks & Recreation
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Whitemarsh Island - Neighorhood Park 12
Managed by Chatham County Parks & Recreation
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Chatham County
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 5 parks & preserves
Whitemarsh Preserve aka Demere Tract124 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Chatham County Parks & Recreation
DirectionsTurner Creek Boat Ramp4 acres · Chatham County Parks & Recreation
DirectionsWhitemarsh Island - Neighorhood Park 122 acres · Chatham County Parks & Recreation
Chatham County1 acres
Gray's Community Park - Neighborhood Park 121 acres · Chatham County Parks & Recreation
Who protects it
200 conserved acres
5% of Whitemarsh Island’s land. Water is left out: Whitemarsh Island has 5.8 square miles of land and 0.8 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Whitemarsh Island’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County200 ac
Local Recreation Area · 198 acLocal Park · 1 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenspace Program Acquisition Local Recreation Area | County | 198 | Open |
| Gray'S Community Park Local Park | County | 1 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Whitemarsh Island
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Whitemarsh Island
Apartment Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Whitemarsh Island
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Whitemarsh Island
4 boat launches without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
17Tennis
5Baseball
4Pickleball
3Basketball
3Soccer
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Whitemarsh Island: 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 | 13.8 | 14.2 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.5 | 10.1 |
| High (°F) | 62 | 65 | 71 | 77 | 84 | 89 | 92 | 90 | 86 | 79 | 70 | 64 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 4.8 | 3.7 | 2.2 | 3.0 |
November is the driest month (2.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 92 °F). 6.0 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 92 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Whitemarsh Island →
Next door
Whitemarsh Island and its neighbors
Whitemarsh Island has the second most mapped trails of the 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitemarsh Island | 5% | 2.0 | 30 | 82% | A |
| Thunderbolt | under 1% | 1.1 | 3 | 99%+ | B |
| Talahi Island | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Wilmington Island | under 1% | 1.7 | 3 | 47% | C+ |
| Dutch Island | under 1% | 1.1 | under 1 | under 1% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Whitemarsh Island
Where can I hike in Whitemarsh Island?
The longest trail networks: Whitemarsh Preserve aka Demere Tract, 0.6 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Whitemarsh Island is conserved land?
5% 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 Whitemarsh Island’s trails?
Whitemarsh Preserve aka Demere Tract and Turner Creek Boat Ramp don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Whitemarsh Island?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Whitemarsh Island?
20,396 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Whitemarsh Island or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 208 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Whitemarsh Island have?
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #8 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 Whitemarsh Island 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 →