Rocky Branch Park
Park
29 acres2.6 mi of trail
Boulder TrailCanopy TrailRocky Branch TrailEuler's Way Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: RoxylovesHistory · CC BY-SA 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Belmont
Belmont has 8.8 miles of mapped trails, 0.7 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Rocky Branch Park (2.6 mi). 7% of Belmont’s land is conserved, about 574 acres. 100 acres are parks and preserves, 6.5 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns · #81 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
574 acres · of 12.2 sq mi of land
Trails
8.8 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
100 ac
6.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
50%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.8 mi
2.0 mi lanes · 1.8 mi paths
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Belmont have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Belmont is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #81 of 290 in North Carolina. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Belmont’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (9 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land6.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (100 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home50% 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 56%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 72%
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 Rocky Branch Park, with 2.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Kevin Loftin Riverfront Park
Park
13 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Davis Park
Park
13 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 10 parks & preserves
Rocky Branch Park29 acres · 2.6 mi of trail
DirectionsStowe Park7 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsKevin Loftin Riverfront Park13 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsDavis Park13 acres
Reid Park9 acres
DirectionsEbb Gantt Park8 acres
DirectionsBelmont Central Park6 acres
DirectionsRodden Ballfield5 acres
Crescent Park4 acres
Hawthorne Park3 acres
Who protects it
574 conserved acres
7% of Belmont’s land. Who manages Belmont’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation140 ac
County35 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits5 ac
State natural resources5 ac
Not recorded413 ac
Private Conservation · 352 acConservation Easement · 140 acLocal Other or Unknown · 61 acLocal Park · 35 acUnknown Easement · 9 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 126 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 7 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden Private Conservation | Not recorded | 279 | Restricted |
| Catawba Lands Conservancy - Seven Oaks Private Conservation | Not recorded | 73 | Restricted |
| City of Belmont Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 61 | Unknown |
| Gaston County Park Local Park | County | 35 | Open |
Things to do
13 places to go in Belmont
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Belmont
Ried Park PlaygroundIn Reid Park
DirectionsPlus 9 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Belmont
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Scenic views in Belmont
St. Benedict Statue & Basilica of Maryhelp
DirectionsCommunity gardens in Belmont
1 community garden without a name on the map.
Trails & water
5 named trails
Named trails
Open to bikes · 5.2 miUnpaved · 4.5 mi
Seven Oaks Preserve Trail2.5 mi
Boulder Trail1.1 mi
Canopy Trail0.7 mi
Rocky Branch Trail0.4 mi
Euler's Way Trail0.2 mi
Biking & sports
3.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.0 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Canopy TrailBike route
1.7 miRocky Branch TrailBike route
0.4 miCourts & fields
15Tennis
8Baseball
6Soccer
4Pickleball
2Basketball
2Football
2Tracks
1Skate park
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).
When to get out
The best walking months in Belmont: 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 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 52 | 57 | 64 | 73 | 80 | 87 | 90 | 88 | 83 | 73 | 63 | 55 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.7 |
October is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 4.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Belmont →
Next door
Belmont and its neighbors
Belmont has the most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont | 7% | 0.7 | 6 | 50% | B |
| Mount Holly | 10% | 0.2 | 16 | 59% | B |
| Cramerton | 6% | 1.8 | 23 | 82% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Belmont
Where can I hike in Belmont?
The longest trail networks: Rocky Branch Park, 2.6 miles; Stowe Park, 0.4 miles; Kevin Loftin Riverfront Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Belmont is conserved land?
7% 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 Belmont’s trails?
Rocky Branch Park and Stowe Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Belmont?
3.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.0 of painted or protected lanes and 1.8 of off-road paths. Named routes: Canopy Trail and Rocky Branch Trail.
Is there public land near Belmont?
8,103 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Belmont or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 100 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Belmont have?
Ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #81 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 Belmont 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 →