Photo: Doug Anderson · CC BY 2.020% of Oak Island’s land is conserved: 2,344 acres
13 miles of mapped trail cross Oak Island, 0.7 per square mile of land. 79 acres are parks and preserves, 8.8 per 1,000 residents. 66% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns · #42 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Oak Island?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Oak Island have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Oak Island is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #42 of 290 in North Carolina. Conserved land holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Water is 6% of Oak Island’s area (1 of 20 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 18%.
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.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
All 7 parks & preserves
2,344 conserved acres
20% of Oak Island’s land. Water is left out: Oak Island has 18.7 square miles of land and 1.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Oak Island’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,295 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 11 of 16 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| NC Department of Transportation Mitigation Site State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 450 | Unknown |
| Town of Oak Island Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 284 | Unknown |
| NC Submerged Lands State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 239 | Open |
| Sheep Island State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 20 | Unknown |
| NC Land and Water Fund Conservation Agreement State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 18 | Unknown |
| North Carolina Coastal Land Trust - Oak Island Marshes Preserve Private Conservation | Not recorded | 17 | Unknown |
| Town of Long Beach Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 14 | Unknown |
| Town of Yaupon Beach Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 10 | Unknown |
| Town of St James Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 6 | Unknown |
| Middleton Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
4 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
16 places to go in Oak Island
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
7 boat launches without a name on the map.
1 picnic area without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
4 named trails
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 Oak Island: 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 | 65 | 73 | 80 | 86 | 89 | 87 | 83 | 76 | 67 | 60 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 6.4 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 4.8 | 3.5 | 3.7 |
April is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 7.8 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Oak Island →
Oak Island and its neighbors
Oak Island has the second most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Island | 20% | 0.7 | 9 | 66% | B+ |
| St. James | 12% | 1.2 | 2 | 9% | B− |
| Boiling Spring Lakes | 47% | 0.9 | 8 | 65% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Oak Island
Where can I hike in Oak Island?
The longest trail networks: Middleton Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Oak Island is conserved land?
20% 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 Oak Island’s trails?
Bill Smith Park and Middleton Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Oak Island?
17,961 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Oak Island or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 320 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Oak Island have?
Ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #42 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 Oak Island 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 →