Roanoke Island Festival Park
Park
23 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Morgan Riley; building by Cahoon & Kasten architects (2004) · CC BY 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Manteo
36% of Manteo’s land is conserved: 441 acres
94% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 69 acres are parks and preserves, 34 per 1,000 residents. 1.3 miles of mapped trail cross Manteo, 0.7 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
36%
441 acres · of 1.9 sq mi of land
Trails
1.3 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
69 ac
34 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
94%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.9 mi
0.9 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Manteo?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Manteo have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Manteo is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Manteo’s overall grade.
Conserved land36% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land34 acres of park per 1,000 residents (69 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home94% 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 93%
LessMore
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A 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 Roanoke Island Festival Park, with 0.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
George Washington Creef Memorial Park
Park
2 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Cartwright Park
Managed by Manteo Parks Department
1 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
All 5 parks & preserves
Roanoke Island Festival Park23 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsGeorge Washington Creef Memorial Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsCartwright Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Manteo Parks Department
DirectionsWaterfront Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsCollins Park1 acres · Manteo Parks Department
DirectionsWho protects it
441 conserved acres
36% of Manteo’s land. Who manages Manteo’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State fish & wildlife373 ac
County13 ac
Not recorded430 ac
State Conservation Area · 746 acState Historic or Cultural Area · 51 acLocal Park · 13 acLocal Other or Unknown · 3 acLocal Recreation Area · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 7 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roanoke Island Marshes Game Land State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 746 | Open |
| Roanoke Island Festival Park State Historic Site State Historic or Cultural Area | Not recorded | 51 | Open |
| Roanoke Island Park Local Park | County | 10 | Open |
| Dare County Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 6 | Unknown |
| Town of Manteo - George Washington Creef Park Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 3 | Open |
Things to do
4 places to go in Manteo
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Manteo
Collins PlaygroundIn Cartwright Park
DirectionsPlus 1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Boat launches in Manteo
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Picnic areas in Manteo
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Biking & sports
0.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.9 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Baseball
1Tennis
1Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Manteo: 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 | 13.1 | 14.0 | 14.6 | 14.4 | 13.5 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| High (°F) | 52 | 53 | 59 | 68 | 75 | 83 | 86 | 86 | 81 | 73 | 62 | 56 |
| Rain (in) | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 4.6 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 3.6 |
April is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 86 °F). 5.6 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 86 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Manteo →
Questions about parks and trails in Manteo
Where can I hike in Manteo?
The longest trail networks: Roanoke Island Festival Park, 0.4 miles; George Washington Creef Memorial Park, 0.1 miles; Cartwright Park, 0.1 miles; Waterfront Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Manteo is conserved land?
36% 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 Manteo’s trails?
Roanoke Island Festival Park and George Washington Creef Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Manteo?
0.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Manteo?
8,448 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Manteo or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 69 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Manteo have?
Ahead of 93% 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 Manteo 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 →