Northwest has 5.9 miles of mapped trails, 0.9 for every square mile of land
4% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 9 acres are parks and preserves, 10.0 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 26% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Northwest?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Northwest have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Northwest is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
1 places to go in Northwest
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
1 picnic area without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The best walking months in Northwest: 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 | 81 | 87 | 90 | 88 | 84 | 76 | 67 | 60 |
| Rain (in) | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 5.4 | 6.2 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
April is the driest month (3.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 7.4 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Northwest →
Questions about parks and trails in Northwest
How much of Northwest is conserved land?
under 1% 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.
Is there public land near Northwest?
2,551 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Northwest or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 9 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Northwest have?
Ahead of 26% 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 Northwest neighbors.
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 →