Cascades Preserve
Nature preserve
126 acres2.1 mi of trail
Falling Waters TrailKeyauwee Loop TrailMountains-to-Sea Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Oak Ridge Military Academy Historic District · Photo: Ceh2624 · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge has 251 acres of parks, 32 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Cascades Preserve (2.1 mi), Oak Ridge Town Park (0.9 mi). 28% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4.0 miles of mapped trail cross Oak Ridge, 0.2 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 45% of U.S. towns · #118 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
288 acres · of 16.7 sq mi of land
Trails
4.0 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
251 ac
32 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
28%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.8 mi
1.6 mi lanes · 2.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
5
What kind of outdoors town is Oak Ridge?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Oak Ridge have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Oak Ridge is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #118 of 290 in North Carolina. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Oak Ridge’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% 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 land32 acres of park per 1,000 residents (251 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home28% of residents within a half mile of a park · NC 51% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 45%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 60%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C 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 Cascades Preserve, with 2.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
288 conserved acres
3% of Oak Ridge’s land. Who manages Oak Ridge’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County75 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits34 ac
State natural resources5 ac
Joint1 ac
Not recorded248 ac
Local Recreation Area · 247 acLocal Park · 75 acConservation Easement · 34 acOther Easement · 5 acLocal Other or Unknown · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 40 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 6 of 7 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guilford County Open Space Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 157 | Unknown |
| Town of Oak Ridge Open Space Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 91 | Unknown |
| Guilford County Park Local Park | County | 75 | Open |
Things to do
1 places to go in Oak Ridge
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Campgrounds in Oak Ridge
MST CampsiteIn Oak Ridge Town Park · Town of Oak Ridge
DirectionsTrails & water
3 named trails and 5 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.6 mi
Falling Waters Trail1.4 mi
Keyauwee Loop Trail0.4 mi
Mountains-to-Sea Trail0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.8 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.6 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
2.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
7Baseball
6Tennis
1Equestrian
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 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 Oak Ridge: April to June
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) | 9.9 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.1 | 14.6 | 14.4 | 13.5 | 12.4 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| High (°F) | 49 | 53 | 61 | 71 | 78 | 85 | 88 | 86 | 80 | 71 | 61 | 52 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 2.9 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.4 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.5 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Oak Ridge →
Next door
Oak Ridge and its neighbors
Oak Ridge has the second most mapped trails of the 4 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 Ridge | 3% | 0.2 | 32 | 28% | B− |
| Stokesdale | 1% | under 0.1 | 8 | 23% | D |
| Summerfield | 4% | 0.1 | 26 | 34% | C+ |
| Greensboro | 13% | 0.5 | 35 | 89% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Oak Ridge
Where can I hike in Oak Ridge?
The longest trail networks: Cascades Preserve, 2.1 miles; Oak Ridge Town Park, 0.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Oak Ridge is conserved land?
3% 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 Ridge’s trails?
Cascades Preserve and Oak Ridge Town Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Oak Ridge?
3.8 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.6 of painted or protected lanes and 2.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Oak Ridge?
15,162 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Oak Ridge or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 251 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Oak Ridge have?
Ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #118 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 Ridge 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 →