Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Managed by National Park Service
2,944 acres10.1 mi of trail
Open Ponds TrailMountains-to-Sea TrailBuxton Woods TrailHorsehoe Pond Trail+1
Dogs usually limited
Directionsto the parking lot
Cape Hatteras Light Station · Photo: Henryhartley · CC BY-SA 3.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Buxton
More than half of Buxton’s land is conserved: 75%
75% of Buxton’s land is conserved, about 3,726 acres. 2,958 acres are parks and preserves, 2,335 per 1,000 residents. 12 miles of mapped trail cross Buxton, 1.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
75%
3,726 acres · of 7.8 sq mi of land
Trails
12 mi
1.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
2,958 ac
2,335 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
75%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
2
1 beach · 5 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Buxton?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Buxton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Buxton is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Buxton’s overall grade.
Conserved land75% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%A+Trails1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (12 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4APark land2,335 acres of park per 1,000 residents (2,958 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home75% 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 98%
LessMore
Water is 11% of Buxton’s area (1 of 9 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 66%.
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 Cape Hatteras National Seashore, with 10.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Buxton Woods Coastal Preserve
Nature preserve
683 acres0.3 mi of trail
Lookout Loop Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Buxton Woods Coastal PreserveWebsite ↗
Who protects it
3,726 conserved acres
75% of Buxton’s land. Water is left out: Buxton has 7.8 square miles of land and 1.0 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Buxton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
National Park Service2,951 ac
State conservation698 ac
State natural resources10 ac
Not recorded766 ac
National Lakeshore or Seashore · 2,951 acState Other or Unknown · 690 acConservation Easement · 688 acLocal Other or Unknown · 61 acUnknown Easement · 19 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 10 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 8 of 10 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Hatteras National Seashore National Lakeshore or Seashore | National Park Service | 2,951 | Open |
| Buxton Woods Coastal Reserve State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 690 | Open |
| Dare County Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 59 | Unknown |
| Dare County - Fessenden Center Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 10 | Unknown |
| Dare County - Burrus Field Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 4 | Unknown |
| Dare County - Hatteras Boatyard Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 2 | Unknown |
Things to do
13 places to go in Buxton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Buxton
Old Lighthouse BeachIn Cape Hatteras National Seashore
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Buxton
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Buxton
5 boat launches without a name on the map.
Picnic areas in Buxton
1 picnic area without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Campgrounds in Buxton
Cape Point CampgroundIn Cape Hatteras National Seashore · National Park Service
DirectionsCape Woods Campgrounds and CabinsFee
DirectionsTrails & water
6 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 9.4 mi
Open Ponds Trail2.7 mi
Mountains-to-Sea Trail1.0 mi
Buxton Woods Trail0.6 mi
Horsehoe Pond Trail0.6 mi
Lookout Loop Trail0.3 mi
Ramp 450.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
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
5Baseball
4Tennis
3Basketball
2Soccer
2Pickleball
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
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 Buxton: April to June
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) | 54 | 55 | 60 | 68 | 75 | 83 | 86 | 86 | 82 | 74 | 64 | 58 |
| Rain (in) | 4.6 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 5.5 | 6.4 | 6.9 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
April is the driest month (3.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 6.9 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Buxton →
Next door
Buxton and its neighbors
Buxton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buxton | 75% | 1.5 | 2,335 | 75% | A+ |
| Frisco | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Buxton
Where can I hike in Buxton?
The longest trail networks: Cape Hatteras National Seashore, 10.1 miles; Buxton Woods Coastal Preserve, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Buxton is conserved land?
75% 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 Buxton’s trails?
Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Buxton Woods Coastal Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Buxton?
7,960 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Buxton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 2,960 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Buxton have?
Ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Buxton 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 →