Ayden Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Willian H. Long House · Photo: Tradewinds · CC BY-SA 3.0DOutdoors
Outdoors in Ayden
Few parks or trails are on the map in Ayden
7 acres are parks and preserves, 1.3 per 1,000 residents. 0.1 miles of mapped trail cross Ayden. 45% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 12% of U.S. towns · #255 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
10 acres · of 3.8 sq mi of land
Trails
0.1 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
7 ac
1.3 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
45%
of residents within ½ mile
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Ayden have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Ayden is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #255 of 290 in North Carolina. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park comes closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Ayden’s overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land1.3 acres of park per 1,000 residents (7 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home45% of residents within a half mile of a park · NC 51% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 12%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 12%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Ayden. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
10 conserved acres
under 1% of Ayden’s land. Who manages Ayden’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city7 ac
Other state land2 ac
Not recorded2 ac
Local Park · 7 acConservation Easement · 2 acState Other or Unknown · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 4 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayden Community Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Veterans Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| NC Hazard Mitigation Buyout Property - Pitt County State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 2 | Unknown |
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
9Golf
3Baseball
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Ayden Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1994
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Ayden: 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) | 10.0 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 54 | 57 | 64 | 73 | 80 | 87 | 90 | 88 | 83 | 74 | 64 | 57 |
| Rain (in) | 3.8 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 6.2 | 6.7 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 6.7 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Ayden →
Next door
Ayden and its neighbors
Ayden has the most mapped trails of the 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ayden | under 1% | under 0.1 | 1 | 45% | D |
| Grifton | 2% | under 0.1 | 4 | 48% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Ayden
How much of Ayden is conserved land?
under 1% of its land, against a typical 3% for a North Carolina town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Ayden’s trails?
Ayden Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Ayden?
1,414 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Ayden or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 7 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Ayden have?
Ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #255 of 290 in North Carolina. 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 Ayden 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 →