Nancy Kyser Park
Park
9 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Carthage
6% of Carthage’s land is conserved: 284 acres
63 acres are parks and preserves, 22 per 1,000 residents. 43% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Carthage, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns · #96 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
284 acres · of 6.8 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
63 ac
22 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
43%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Carthage?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Carthage have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Carthage is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #96 of 290 in North Carolina. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Carthage’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land22 acres of park per 1,000 residents (63 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home43% 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 51%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 67%
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 Nancy Kyser Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
284 conserved acres
6% of Carthage’s land. Who manages Carthage’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits53 ac
County46 ac
Joint46 ac
Not recorded185 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 185 acUnknown Easement · 98 acLocal Park · 46 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 53 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town of Carthage Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 185 | Unknown |
| Moore County Park Local Park | County | 46 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Carthage
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Carthage
7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Carthage
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Nick's Creek Greenway0.1 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
3Pickleball
2Basketball
2Tennis
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →6 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.
Union County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1971
About itMoore County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1979
About itBruce-Dowd-Kennedy HouseBuilding · listed 1980
About itDaniel Blue HouseBuilding · listed 1983
About itCarthage Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1992
About itJ.C. Black HouseBuilding · listed 1999
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Carthage: 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) | 53 | 57 | 64 | 74 | 80 | 87 | 90 | 88 | 82 | 73 | 63 | 55 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 5.2 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 5.2 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Carthage →
Next door
Carthage and its neighbors
Carthage 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carthage | 6% | 0.2 | 22 | 43% | B− |
| Southern Pines | 8% | 1.7 | 28 | 60% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Carthage
Where can I hike in Carthage?
The longest trail networks: Nancy Kyser Park, 0.4 miles; Lake Luke Marion, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Carthage is conserved land?
6% 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 Carthage’s trails?
Nancy Kyser Park and Lake Luke Marion don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Carthage?
7,044 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Carthage or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 63 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Carthage have?
Ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #96 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 Carthage 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 →