Cape Lookout Village Historic District · Photo: Jarek Tuszyński · CC BY 3.0Harkers Island has 82 acres of parks, 77 for every 1,000 residents
9% of Harkers Island’s land is conserved, about 137 acres. 38% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.9 miles of mapped trail cross Harkers Island, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 70% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Harkers Island?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Harkers Island have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Harkers Island is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
Water is 42% of Harkers Island’s area (2 of 4 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 6%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
137 conserved acres
9% of Harkers Island’s land. Water is left out: Harkers Island has 2.2 square miles of land and 1.6 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Harkers Island’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 4 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audubon Environmental Land Trust Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 107 | Closed |
| Cape Lookout National Seashore National Lakeshore or Seashore | National Park Service | 83 | Open |
| Carteret County Open Space - Harkers Point Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
10 places to go in Harkers Island
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
5 boat launches without a name on the map.
1 picnic area without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The best walking months in Harkers Island: 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) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 57 | 58 | 64 | 71 | 78 | 85 | 88 | 87 | 83 | 75 | 66 | 60 |
| Rain (in) | 4.4 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 6.1 | 7.6 | 8.0 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
April is the driest month (3.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 8.0 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Harkers Island →
Questions about parks and trails in Harkers Island
How much of Harkers Island is conserved land?
9% 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 Harkers Island’s trails?
Manley Gaskill Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Harkers Island?
10,914 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Harkers Island or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 82 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Harkers Island have?
Ahead of 70% 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 Harkers Island neighbors.
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 →