Granite Lake Park
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Michael Braun House · Photo: Thomas T. Waterman, HABS Photographer · Public domainCOutdoors
Outdoors in Granite Quarry
6% of Granite Quarry’s land is conserved: 110 acres
21 acres are parks and preserves, 6.9 per 1,000 residents. 60% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns · #182 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
110 acres · of 3.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
21 ac
6.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
60%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Granite Quarry have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Granite Quarry is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #182 of 290 in North Carolina. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Granite Quarry’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4DPark land6.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (21 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home60% 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 30%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 37%
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Granite Civic Park/Lighting
Park
4 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
110 conserved acres
6% of Granite Quarry’s land. Who manages Granite Quarry’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city20 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits5 ac
Not recorded85 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 85 acLocal Park · 20 acUnknown Easement · 5 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 5 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 6 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rowan County Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 57 | Unknown |
| Town of Granite Quarry Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 28 | Unknown |
| Granite Lake Park Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Granite Civic Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
Things to do
2 places to go in Granite Quarry
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Granite Quarry
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
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
4Pickleball
3Baseball
3Tennis
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 Granite Quarry: 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 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.6 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 51 | 55 | 62 | 72 | 79 | 86 | 89 | 87 | 81 | 72 | 61 | 53 |
| Rain (in) | 3.7 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 4.4 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Granite Quarry →
Next door
Granite Quarry and its neighbors
Granite Quarry 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granite Quarry | 6% | under 0.1 | 7 | 60% | C |
| Salisbury | 4% | 0.6 | 10 | 60% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Granite Quarry
How much of Granite Quarry 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 Granite Quarry’s trails?
Granite Lake Park and Granite Civic Park/Lighting don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Granite Quarry?
5,374 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Granite Quarry or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 21 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Granite Quarry have?
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #182 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 Granite Quarry 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 →