Mountain Island Lake Park
Park
77 acres1 mi of trail
Mountain Island Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: SunDawn · CC BY-SA 4.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Mount Holly
10% of Mount Holly’s land is conserved: 760 acres
The biggest trail networks: Mountain Island Lake Park (1 mi), Tuckaseege Park Mt Holly (0.9 mi), River Street Park (0.5 mi). 290 acres are parks and preserves, 16 per 1,000 residents. 2.6 miles of mapped trail cross Mount Holly, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 60% of U.S. towns · #66 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
760 acres · of 11.3 sq mi of land
Trails
2.6 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
290 ac
16 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
59%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.1 mi
2.5 mi lanes · 1.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
3 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Mount Holly?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mount Holly have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mount Holly is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #66 of 290 in North Carolina. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Holly’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land16 acres of park per 1,000 residents (290 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13BParks close to home59% 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 60%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 78%
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 Mountain Island Lake Park, with 1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Tuckaseege Park Mt Holly
Park
36 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
River Street Park
Park
13 acres0.5 mi of trail
River Street Thread Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Mountain Island Park
Managed by City of Mount Holly
78 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 11 parks & preserves
Mountain Island Lake Park77 acres · 1 mi of trail
Tuckaseege Park Mt Holly36 acres · 0.9 mi of trail
DirectionsRiver Street Park13 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Stone Water Bay Cumminty Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Mountain Island Park78 acres · City of Mount Holly
Stowe Family YMCA15 acres · Gaston County Family YMCA
DirectionsCatawba River Greenway15 acres · Mount Holly
Woodlawn Park10 acres
Linear Park2 acres · City of Mount Holly
DirectionsVeteran’s Park2 acres
DirectionsCatawba Heights Playground1 acres
Who protects it
760 conserved acres
10% of Mount Holly’s land. Who manages Mount Holly’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city419 ac
State conservation154 ac
County57 ac
Private owners6 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits1 ac
Not recorded1,140 ac
State Other or Unknown · 612 acLocal Other or Unknown · 528 acUnknown Easement · 418 acConservation Easement · 155 acLocal Park · 64 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 6 of 10 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| NC Land and Water Fund Project State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 612 | Restricted |
| City of Gastonia Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 419 | Unknown |
| City of Mount Holly Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 109 | Unknown |
| Gaston County Park Local Park | County | 57 | Open |
| Catawba Heights Local Park | Private owners | 6 | Open |
| Tuckaseege Community Center Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
8 places to go in Mount Holly
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Mount Holly
Dutchmans Ridge Neighborhood Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Mount Holly
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Mount Holly
Duke Energy Kayak/ Canoe Access
DirectionsMount Holly Access
DirectionsMountain Island Boat Landing
DirectionsFishing spots in Mount Holly
1 fishing spot without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in Mount Holly
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.5 miUnpaved · 0.9 mi
Mountain Island Trail1.0 mi
River Street Thread Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.5 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Baseball
5Tennis
2Basketball
1Skate park
1Volleyball
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 Mount Holly: 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) | 52 | 56 | 64 | 73 | 80 | 87 | 90 | 88 | 83 | 73 | 63 | 55 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.7 |
October is the driest month (3.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 4.3 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Mount Holly →
Next door
Mount Holly and its neighbors
Mount Holly 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Holly | 10% | 0.2 | 16 | 59% | B |
| Belmont | 7% | 0.7 | 6 | 50% | B |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mount Holly
Where can I hike in Mount Holly?
The longest trail networks: Mountain Island Lake Park, 1 miles; Tuckaseege Park Mt Holly, 0.9 miles; River Street Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mount Holly is conserved land?
10% 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 Mount Holly’s trails?
Mountain Island Lake Park and Tuckaseege Park Mt Holly don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Mount Holly?
4.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.5 of painted or protected lanes and 1.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Mount Holly?
9,506 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mount Holly or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 290 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Mount Holly have?
Ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #66 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 Mount Holly 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 →