Browns Creek Park
Managed by Town of Elizabethtown
185 acres12.9 mi of trail
Browns Creek Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Trinity Methodist Church · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainA−Outdoors
Outdoors in Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown has 14 miles of mapped trails, 2.7 for every square mile of land
229 acres are parks and preserves, 70 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Browns Creek Park (12.9 mi). 6% of Elizabethtown’s land is conserved, about 205 acres.
Ahead of 84% of U.S. towns · #19 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
205 acres · of 5.3 sq mi of land
Trails
14 mi
2.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
229 ac
70 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
51%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Elizabethtown?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Elizabethtown have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elizabethtown is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #19 of 290 in North Carolina. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Elizabethtown’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%B+Trails2.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (14 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land70 acres of park per 1,000 residents (229 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home51% 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 84%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 94%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ 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 Browns Creek Park, with 12.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Quail Circle Mini-Park
Park
2 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
205 conserved acres
6% of Elizabethtown’s land. Who manages Elizabethtown’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city9 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits5 ac
Not recorded197 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 166 acLocal Recreation Area · 31 acPrivate Conservation · 11 acLocal Park · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town of Elizabethtown Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 143 | Unknown |
| Town of Elizabethtown Park Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 25 | Open |
| Bladen County Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 24 | Unknown |
| Audubon Environmental Land Trust Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 11 | Closed |
| Walace S Le'Nwa D Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Quail Circle Mini-Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
10 places to go in Elizabethtown
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Elizabethtown
9 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Elizabethtown
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Open to bikes · 6.5 miUnpaved · 6.5 mi
Browns Creek Trail6.3 mi
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
3Baseball
2Basketball
2Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 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 Elizabethtown: 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) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 55 | 59 | 66 | 75 | 82 | 88 | 91 | 89 | 84 | 75 | 65 | 58 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.9 | 5.4 | 6.1 | 6.4 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 91 °F). 6.4 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 91 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Elizabethtown →
Questions about parks and trails in Elizabethtown
Where can I hike in Elizabethtown?
The longest trail networks: Browns Creek Park, 12.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Elizabethtown 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 Elizabethtown’s trails?
Browns Creek Park and Wrc Cape Fear Access Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Elizabethtown?
5,492 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elizabethtown or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 229 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Elizabethtown have?
Ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #19 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 Elizabethtown 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 →