Lake Junaluska Playground
Park
1 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Daniel Hass · CC BY-SA 3.0DOutdoors
Outdoors in Lake Junaluska
Few parks or trails are on the map in Lake Junaluska
4 acres are parks and preserves, 1.1 per 1,000 residents. 24% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Lake Junaluska, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 11% of U.S. towns · #257 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
18 acres · of 5.3 sq mi of land
Trails
0.4 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
4 ac
1.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
24%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
3,566 ft
Fincher Mountain
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lake Junaluska have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lake Junaluska is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #257 of 290 in North Carolina. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; trail miles come closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Junaluska’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4CPark land1.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (4 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home24% 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 11%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 11%
Water is 6% of Lake Junaluska’s area (0 of 6 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Lake Junaluska. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be D. 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 Lake Junaluska Playground, with 0.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
18 conserved acres
1% of Lake Junaluska’s land. Water is left out: Lake Junaluska has 5.3 square miles of land and 0.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Lake Junaluska’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Private owners3 ac
State natural resources2 ac
Other state land2 ac
Not recorded13 ac
State Other or Unknown · 13 acUnknown Easement · 4 acLocal Park · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 2 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 4 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Research Station State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 13 | Unknown |
| Lake Junaluska Park Local Park | Private owners | 3 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Lake Junaluska
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Lake Junaluska
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Peaks in Lake Junaluska
Fincher Mountain3,566 ft elevation
DirectionsLittle Muckle Knob3,547 ft elevation
DirectionsSusie Knob3,077 ft elevation
DirectionsHall Top2,923 ft elevation
DirectionsCampgrounds in Lake Junaluska
Lake Junaluska Campground
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Richland Creek Greenway0.2 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
1Tennis
1Pickleball
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 Lake Junaluska: April to August
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 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 46 | 51 | 58 | 67 | 75 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 76 | 67 | 57 | 49 |
| Rain (in) | 4.4 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 4.5 |
October is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.8 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Lake Junaluska →
Next door
Lake Junaluska and its neighbors
Lake Junaluska 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Junaluska | 1% | 0.1 | 1 | 24% | D |
| Waynesville | 1% | 0.2 | 5 | 35% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Lake Junaluska
Where can I hike in Lake Junaluska?
The longest trail networks: Lake Junaluska Playground, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Lake Junaluska is conserved land?
1% 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 Lake Junaluska’s trails?
Lake Junaluska Playground doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Lake Junaluska?
26,517 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lake Junaluska or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 4 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Lake Junaluska have?
Ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #257 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 Lake Junaluska 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 →