Morehead City Sports Complex
Park
28 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Bz3rk · CC BY-SA 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Morehead City
13% of Morehead City’s land is conserved: 611 acres
The biggest trail networks: Morehead City Sports Complex (0.8 mi). 4.2 miles of mapped trail cross Morehead City, 0.6 per square mile of land. 71% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns · #52 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
13%
611 acres · of 7.4 sq mi of land
Trails
4.2 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
94 ac
9.6 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
71%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.7 mi
1.7 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
6 beaches · 8 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Morehead City?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Morehead City have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Morehead City is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #52 of 290 in North Carolina. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Morehead City’s overall grade.
Conserved land13% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land9.6 acres of park per 1,000 residents (94 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home71% 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 69%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 82%
Water is 30% of Morehead City’s area (3 of 11 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 9%.
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
The longest trail network is Morehead City Sports Complex, with 0.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Swinson Park
Park
33 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Radio Island Beach Access
Park
12 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Morehead City Parks and Recreation
Park
7 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 11 parks & preserves
Morehead City Sports Complex28 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Radio Island Beach Access12 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsShevans Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsSwinson Park33 acres
Morehead City Parks and Recreation7 acres
Bryan Street Pond3 acres
Morehead City Depot Park2 acres
DirectionsMitchell Village Park1 acres
Morehead City Waterfront Park1 acres
DirectionsBoat Ramp and Dock on Shepard1 acres
DirectionsPiney Park1 acres
Who protects it
611 conserved acres
13% of Morehead City’s land. Water is left out: Morehead City has 7.4 square miles of land and 3.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Morehead City’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city34 ac
State conservation18 ac
Not recorded595 ac
State Other or Unknown · 455 acLocal Other or Unknown · 98 acPrivate Conservation · 33 acLocal Park · 33 acConservation Easement · 18 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 16 of 20 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port of Morehead City State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 431 | Restricted |
| Swinson Park Local Park | Town or city | 33 | Open |
| Crab Point Audubon Sanctuary Private Conservation | Not recorded | 31 | Unknown |
| Town of Morehead City - Morehead City Sports Complex Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 29 | Unknown |
| NC Land and Water Fund Conservation Agreement State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 24 | Unknown |
| Town of Morehead City Open Space - Sugarloaf Island Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 22 | Unknown |
| Carteret County Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 18 | Unknown |
| Town of Morehead City Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 14 | Unknown |
| US Army Reserve Center Military Land | Not recorded | 10 | Restricted |
| Town of Morehead City - Morehead City Recreation Center Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 7 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
26 places to go in Morehead City
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Morehead City
6 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Morehead City
12 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Morehead City
8 boat launches without a name on the map.
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.7 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
15Tennis
7Baseball
3Basketball
2Pickleball
1Soccer
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 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 Morehead City: 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 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| High (°F) | 56 | 58 | 64 | 71 | 78 | 85 | 88 | 87 | 83 | 75 | 66 | 60 |
| Rain (in) | 4.3 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 5.1 | 6.2 | 7.6 | 8.0 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 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 Morehead City →
Next door
Morehead City and its neighbors
Morehead City has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morehead City | 13% | 0.6 | 10 | 71% | B+ |
| Beaufort | 49% | 0.6 | 2 | 63% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Morehead City
Where can I hike in Morehead City?
The longest trail networks: Morehead City Sports Complex, 0.8 miles; Radio Island Beach Access, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Morehead City is conserved land?
13% 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 Morehead City’s trails?
Morehead City Sports Complex and Swinson Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Morehead City?
1.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.7 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Morehead City?
51,497 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Morehead City or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 94 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Morehead City have?
Ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #52 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 Morehead City 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 →