Rachel Carson Estuarine Sanctuary
Nature preserve
1,565 acres1.8 mi of trail
Inner Loop Trail (Green)Outer Loop Trail (Blue)Bird Shoal Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Aurora30 at English Wikipedia · Public domainBOutdoors
Outdoors in Beaufort
49% of Beaufort’s land is conserved: 1,610 acres
The biggest trail networks: Rachel Carson Estuarine Sanctuary (1.8 mi). 8 acres are parks and preserves, 1.6 per 1,000 residents. 3.2 miles of mapped trail cross Beaufort, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 63% of U.S. towns · #63 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
49%
1,610 acres · of 5.1 sq mi of land
Trails
3.2 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
8 ac
1.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
63%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.1 mi
0.1 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
2
2 beaches · 6 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Beaufort?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Beaufort have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Beaufort is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #63 of 290 in North Carolina. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Beaufort’s overall grade.
Conserved land49% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land1.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (8 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home63% of residents within a half mile of a park · NC 51% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 63%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 79%
Water is 35% of Beaufort’s area (3 of 8 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 32%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ 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 Rachel Carson Estuarine Sanctuary, with 1.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Randolph Johnson Memorial Park
Park
2 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 5 parks & preserves
Rachel Carson Estuarine Sanctuary1,565 acres · 1.8 mi of trail
DirectionsRandolph Johnson Memorial Park2 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsTown of Beaufort Boardwalk1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsOld Beaufort Elementary School16 acres
DirectionsCurtis Perry Park3 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
1,610 conserved acres
49% of Beaufort’s land. Water is left out: Beaufort has 5.1 square miles of land and 2.7 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Beaufort’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation1,559 ac
Town or city3 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits3 ac
Not recorded1,603 ac
Conservation Easement · 1,562 acState Other or Unknown · 1,560 acLocal Other or Unknown · 43 acLocal Recreation Area · 2 acLocal Park · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 5 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 8 of 11 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rachel Carson Component of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1,559 | Open |
| Town of Beaufort Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 34 | Unknown |
| Carteret County Open Space - Town Creek Boat Ramps Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 4 | Unknown |
| Town of Beaufort - Curtis Perry Park Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 3 | Unknown |
| Tennis Courts Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Carteret County Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 2 | Unknown |
| NC Department of Transportation Mitigation Site State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
| Memorial Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
24 places to go in Beaufort
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Beaufort
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Beaufort
16 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Beaufort
6 boat launches without a name on the map.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.2 mi
Inner Loop Trail (Green)0.9 mi
Outer Loop Trail (Blue)0.6 mi
Bird Shoal Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
2Tennis
2Baseball
1Beach volleyball
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Beaufort: 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) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 56 | 58 | 64 | 71 | 78 | 85 | 88 | 87 | 83 | 75 | 66 | 60 |
| Rain (in) | 4.4 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 7.6 | 8.0 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 4.2 |
April is the driest month (3.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 8.0 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Beaufort →
Next door
Beaufort and its neighbors
Beaufort has the second 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaufort | 49% | 0.6 | 2 | 63% | B |
| Morehead City | 13% | 0.6 | 10 | 71% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Beaufort
Where can I hike in Beaufort?
The longest trail networks: Rachel Carson Estuarine Sanctuary, 1.8 miles; Randolph Johnson Memorial Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Beaufort is conserved land?
49% 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 Beaufort’s trails?
Rachel Carson Estuarine Sanctuary and Old Beaufort Elementary School don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Beaufort?
0.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.1 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Beaufort?
17,181 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Beaufort or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 367 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Beaufort have?
Ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #63 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 Beaufort 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 →