Gilboa Methodist Church · Photo: Upstateherd · CC BY-SA 3.0Few parks or trails are on the map in Salem
12% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 4% of U.S. towns. What drives it
How much outdoors does Salem have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Salem is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; conserved land comes closest.
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.
9 conserved acres
under 1% of Salem’s land. Who manages Salem’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 7 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Morganton Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 2 | Unknown |
1 lakes & rivers
0.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
The best walking months in Salem: 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) | 10.0 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.0 | 14.6 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| High (°F) | 50 | 55 | 62 | 71 | 79 | 85 | 88 | 87 | 81 | 72 | 62 | 53 |
| Rain (in) | 4.0 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 4.2 |
February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.6 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Salem →
Salem and its neighbors
Salem 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salem | under 1% | under 0.1 | under 1 | 12% | D− |
| Morganton | 5% | 0.5 | 31 | 70% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Salem
How much of Salem 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.
Where can I bike in Salem?
0.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Salem?
14,838 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Salem or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), almost none of it inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Salem have?
Ahead of 4% 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 Salem 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 →