Croatan National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
487 acres0.7 mi of trail
North Little
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Brices Creek
16% of Brices Creek’s land is conserved: 790 acres
8.4 miles of mapped trail cross Brices Creek, 1.1 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Croatan National Forest (0.7 mi). 1% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 40% of U.S. towns · #145 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
16%
790 acres · of 7.8 sq mi of land
Trails
8.4 mi
1.1 per sq mi of land
Near a park
1%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Brices Creek?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Brices Creek have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Brices Creek is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #145 of 290 in North Carolina. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Brices Creek’s overall grade.
Conserved land16% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land0.0 acres of park per 1,000 residents (0 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13DParks close to home1% of residents within a half mile of a park · NC 51% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 40%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 50%
Water is 6% of Brices Creek’s area (0 of 8 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 15%.
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 Croatan National Forest, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
790 conserved acres
16% of Brices Creek’s land. Water is left out: Brices Creek has 7.8 square miles of land and 0.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Brices Creek’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Forest Service600 ac
Not recorded203 ac
National Forest · 600 acLocal Other or Unknown · 190 acState Other or Unknown · 13 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 4 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Croatan National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 600 | Open |
| City of New Bern Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 174 | Unknown |
| Craven County Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 15 | Unknown |
| NC Hazard Mitigation Buyout Property - Craven County State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 13 | Unknown |
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.1 mi
North Little1.1 mi
When to get out
The best walking months in Brices Creek: 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) | 56 | 59 | 65 | 73 | 80 | 86 | 89 | 88 | 83 | 75 | 66 | 59 |
| Rain (in) | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 7.2 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 3.8 |
April is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 7.2 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Brices Creek →
Next door
Brices Creek and its neighbors
Brices Creek has the second 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brices Creek | 16% | 1.1 | under 1 | 1% | C+ |
| New Bern | 9% | 0.6 | 40 | 56% | B+ |
| James City | 5% | 0.4 | 28 | 13% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Brices Creek
Where can I hike in Brices Creek?
The longest trail networks: Croatan National Forest, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Brices Creek is conserved land?
16% 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 Brices Creek’s trails?
Croatan National Forest doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Brices Creek?
33,409 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Brices Creek or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 603 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Brices Creek have?
Ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #145 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 Brices Creek 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 →