Brown Mill Mountain Bike Trail
Managed by Concord Parks and Rec
40 acres4.3 mi of trail
Brown Mill Mountain Bike Trail
Dogs on leash
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: AlexiusHoratius · CC BY-SA 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Concord
Concord has 32 miles of mapped trails, 0.5 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Brown Mill Mountain Bike Trail (4.3 mi), James L. Dorton Park (1.6 mi), Flowe Park (0.7 mi). 478 acres are parks and preserves, 4.4 per 1,000 residents. 45% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 35% of U.S. towns · #162 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
694 acres · of 64.8 sq mi of land
Trails
32 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
478 ac
4.4 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
45%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
7.9 mi
2.1 mi lanes · 5.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
7
1 boat launch
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Concord have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Concord is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #162 of 290 in North Carolina. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Concord’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%C+Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (32 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4BPark land4.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents (478 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13CParks close to home45% 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 35%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 44%
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Concord ranks #387 on Outdoors.
Park acres per resident are where Concord trails most U.S. towns: 4.4 per 1,000 against 12.6 typical, since 114,598 people share 478 acres.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. 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 Brown Mill Mountain Bike Trail, with 4.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Les Myers Community Park
Managed by City of Concord
20 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Hartsell Park
Managed by Concord Parks & Rec
25 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Big Green
Managed by Allen Mills
3 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
J.W. (Mickey) McGee, Jr. Park
Managed by City of Concord Parks & Recreation
13 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 15 parks & preserves
Brown Mill Mountain Bike Trail40 acres · 4.3 mi of trail · Concord Parks and Rec
DirectionsJames L. Dorton Park35 acres · 1.6 mi of trail
DirectionsFlowe Park22 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
DirectionsLes Myers Community Park20 acres · 0.7 mi of trail · City of Concord
DirectionsHartsell Park25 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · Concord Parks & Rec
DirectionsBig Green3 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · Allen Mills
J.W. (Mickey) McGee, Jr. Park13 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · City of Concord Parks & Recreation
Moss Creek Nature Preserve33 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Beverly Hills Neighborhood Park3 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · City of Concord
Weddington Road Park70 acres · PARTF
DirectionsGeorge W. Liles Greenway7 acres
DirectionsCCYA Ballpark7 acres · CCYA
DirectionsWilson Street Park4 acres · City of Concord
DirectionsGibson Ball Park4 acres · City of Concord
DirectionsIrish Buffalo Creek Greenway1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
694 conserved acres
2% of Concord’s land. Who manages Concord’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city141 ac
Other state land38 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits30 ac
Regional Water Districts27 ac
State conservation24 ac
County2 ac
Not recorded610 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 268 acLocal Recreation Area · 223 acLocal Park · 144 acState Other or Unknown · 80 acConservation Easement · 80 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 46 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 13 of 35 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Concord Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 254 | Unknown |
| City of Concord - Hector Henry Greenway Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 97 | Unknown |
| City of Concord - McEachern Greenway Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 57 | Open |
| Weddington Road Bark Park Local Park | Town or city | 53 | Open |
| Cabarrus County - W.W. Flowe Park Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 41 | Unknown |
| NC Land and Water Fund Conservation Agreement State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 38 | Restricted |
| Catawba Lands Conservancy - Rocky Pop Preserve Private Conservation | Not recorded | 38 | Restricted |
| Stonewall Jackson School State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 34 | Restricted |
| City of Concord - James L. Dorton Park Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 28 | Unknown |
| J.W. (Mickey) Mcgee Jr. Park Local Park | Town or city | 23 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
108 places to go in Concord
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Concord
Adult Swim
DirectionsJohn F. McInnis Aquatics Center
DirectionsKiddie Pool
DirectionsRegular Pool
DirectionsSauna
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Concord
Parkview Estates Playground
Directions89 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.
Dog parks in Concord
Weddington Road Bark ParkIn Weddington Road Park
DirectionsPlus 6 dog parks without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Concord
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Fishing spots in Concord
2 fishing spots without a name on the map.
Scenic views in Concord
Charlotte Motor Speedway
DirectionsPicnic areas in Concord
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
8 named trails and 7 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 5.2 miUnpaved · 11.9 mi
Brown Mill Mountain Bike Trail4.3 mi
Hector Henry Greenway Carolina Thread Trail1.6 mi
Hector Henry Carolina Thread Trail0.4 mi
Sewer path0.3 mi
Westgate Circle Northwest0.3 mi
Hector Henry Carolina Thread Trail (Entrance)0.2 mi
David Fudge Place Northwest0.1 mi
Rocky River Crossing Nature Trail0.1 mi
Biking & sports
7.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
5.6 mi
off-road bike paths
0.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
86Tennis
39Baseball
25Basketball
24Golf
12Softball
11Soccer
9Football
6Tracks
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →13 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 9 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
McCurdy Log HouseBuilding · listed 1974
About itCabarrus County CourthouseBuilding · listed 1974
About itOdell-Locke-Randolph Cotton MillBuilding · listed 1983
About itStonewall Jackson Training School Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1984
About itBarber-Scotia CollegeBuilding · listed 1985
About itFavoni-Harris, Dr. Charles and William Shakespeare HouseBuilding · listed 1986
About itSouth Union Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1986
About itNorth Union Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1986
About itSouth Union Street Courthouse and Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1997
About itUnion Street North-Cabarrus Avenue Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2003
About itColeman-Franklin-Cannon MillBuilding · listed 2015
About itNorcott Mill-Cannon Mills Company Plant No. 10Building · listed 2021
About it1 more on the History page.
When to get out
The best walking months in Concord: 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) | 52 | 56 | 63 | 73 | 80 | 87 | 90 | 88 | 82 | 73 | 62 | 54 |
| Rain (in) | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.7 |
February is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Concord →
Next door
Concord and its neighbors
Concord has the second most mapped trails of the 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concord | 2% | 0.5 | 4 | 45% | C |
| Kannapolis | 2% | 0.1 | 3 | 17% | C− |
| Harrisburg | 2% | 0.6 | 5 | 24% | C |
| Huntersville | 11% | 0.2 | 22 | 78% | B+ |
| Charlotte | 7% | 0.4 | 10 | 66% | B |
| Mount Pleasant | 17% | 0.6 | 10 | 55% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Concord
Where can I hike in Concord?
The longest trail networks: Brown Mill Mountain Bike Trail, 4.3 miles; James L. Dorton Park, 1.6 miles; Flowe Park, 0.7 miles; Les Myers Community Park, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Concord is conserved land?
2% 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 Concord’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Brown Mill Mountain Bike Trail (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Concord?
7.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.1 of painted or protected lanes, 5.6 of off-road paths and 0.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Concord?
10,239 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Concord or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 478 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Concord have?
Ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #162 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 Concord 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 →