Lake Waccamaw State Park
Managed by North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation
29 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Cat person · CC BY-SA 3.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Lake Waccamaw
97% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Lake Waccamaw
65 acres are parks and preserves, 37 per 1,000 residents. 0.5 miles of mapped trail cross Lake Waccamaw, 0.2 per square mile of land. 4% of Lake Waccamaw’s land is conserved, about 77 acres.
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
4%
77 acres · of 2.8 sq mi of land
Trails
0.5 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
65 ac
37 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
97%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Lake Waccamaw?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Lake Waccamaw have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lake Waccamaw is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Waccamaw’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land37 acres of park per 1,000 residents (65 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home97% of residents within a half mile of a park · NC 51% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 72%
LessMore
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Wannanish Game Land
Managed by North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission
8 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Wrc Lake Waccamaw Access Area
Nature preserve
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
77 conserved acres
4% of Lake Waccamaw’s land. Who manages Lake Waccamaw’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation12 ac
Not recorded68 ac
State Park · 38 acLocal Recreation Area · 27 acConservation Easement · 12 acState Other or Unknown · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 12 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Waccamaw State Park State Park | Not recorded | 38 | Open |
| Town of Lake Waccamaw - Elizabeth Brinkley Park Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 27 | Unknown |
| Lake Waccamaw State Lake Registered Heritage Area State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 3 | Unknown |
| Lake Waccamaw Marl Outcrop Registered Heritage Area State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
2 places to go in Lake Waccamaw
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Lake Waccamaw
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Lake Waccamaw
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
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
3Tennis
3Baseball
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Lake Waccamaw DepotBuilding · listed 1983
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Lake Waccamaw: 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 | 13.9 | 14.4 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.3 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 57 | 60 | 67 | 75 | 82 | 87 | 90 | 89 | 84 | 76 | 66 | 59 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 6.0 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
April is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 6.7 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Lake Waccamaw →
Questions about parks and trails in Lake Waccamaw
How much of Lake Waccamaw is conserved land?
4% 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 Waccamaw’s trails?
Lake Waccamaw State Park and Wannanish Game Land don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Lake Waccamaw?
14,953 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lake Waccamaw or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 65 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Lake Waccamaw have?
Ahead of 72% 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 Lake Waccamaw 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 →