Ildewild Road Park
Managed by Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation
128 acres1.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Property of PLCMC · CC BY-SA 2.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Matthews
6% of Matthews’ land is conserved: 670 acres
The biggest trail networks: Ildewild Road Park (1.9 mi), Arthur Goodman Memorial Park (0.7 mi). 84% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 475 acres are parks and preserves, 16 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns · #60 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
670 acres · of 17.1 sq mi of land
Trails
4.1 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
475 ac
16 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
84%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
15 mi
1.7 mi lanes · 13 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Matthews?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Matthews have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Matthews is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #60 of 290 in North Carolina. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Matthews’ overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land16 acres of park per 1,000 residents (475 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13BParks close to home84% 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 64%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 80%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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
The longest trail network is Ildewild Road Park, with 1.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Arthur Goodman Memorial Park
Park
28 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
All 15 parks & preserves
Ildewild Road Park128 acres · 1.9 mi of trail · Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation
DirectionsArthur Goodman Memorial Park28 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
DirectionsRice Park10 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Matthews Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resource
Stumptown Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Purser-Hulsey Park95 acres
Squirrel Lake Park34 acres
Warner Park26 acres
DirectionsIndependence Pointe Park11 acres
DirectionsSardis Road Park7 acres
Windsor Park5 acres
Four Mile Creek Greenway4 acres
Providence Nature Preserve1 acres
Baucom Park1 acres
Country Place Park1 acres
Town Green Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
670 conserved acres
6% of Matthews’ land. Who manages Matthews’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County429 ac
Town or city48 ac
Private owners26 ac
Regional agency2 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1 ac
State conservation1 ac
Not recorded613 ac
Local Park · 505 acLocal Conservation Area · 407 acLocal Recreation Area · 177 acLocal Other or Unknown · 29 acConservation Easement · 2 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 5 of 28 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mecklenburg County Open Space Local Park | County | 410 | Open |
| Mecklenburg County Sports Complex Local Conservation Area | Not recorded | 160 | Restricted |
| Town of Matthews Open Space Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 156 | Unknown |
| Mecklenburg County Open Space - Idlewild Road Park Local Conservation Area | Not recorded | 128 | Restricted |
| Mecklenburg County Open Space - Matthews-Mint Hill Park Local Conservation Area | Not recorded | 92 | Restricted |
| City of Charlotte Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 27 | Unknown |
| Arthur Goodman Memorial Park Local Park | Private owners | 26 | Restricted |
| CPCC Levine Campus Community Park Local Park | County | 21 | Restricted |
| Squirrel Lake Park Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Williams-Olmstead Park Local Park | County | 17 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
23 places to go in Matthews
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Matthews
Squirrel Lake ParkIn Squirrel Lake Park
DirectionsPlus 18 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Community gardens in Matthews
Matthews Community Garden
DirectionsMatthews UMC Genesis GardenMatthews United Methodist Church
DirectionsPlus 2 community gardens without a name on the map.
Biking & sports
15 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.7 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
13 mi
off-road bike paths
0.4 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
24Tennis
22Baseball
14Soccer
2Beach volleyball
2Field hockey
2Softball
2Multi-sport
2Basketball
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). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Matthews: 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 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 53 | 57 | 64 | 73 | 80 | 87 | 90 | 88 | 83 | 73 | 63 | 55 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 4.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Matthews →
Next door
Matthews and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Matthews
Where can I hike in Matthews?
The longest trail networks: Ildewild Road Park, 1.9 miles; Arthur Goodman Memorial Park, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Matthews 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 Matthews’ trails?
Ildewild Road Park and Arthur Goodman Memorial Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Matthews?
15 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.7 of painted or protected lanes, 13 of off-road paths and 0.4 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Matthews?
8,825 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Matthews or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 475 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Matthews have?
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #60 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 Matthews 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 →