Yadkin River Park
Managed by Yadkin County Parks & Recreation
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Southern Railway Spencer Shops · Photo: Ted Abbott · CC BY-SA 2.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Spencer
7% of Spencer’s land is conserved, and 98% of residents live within a half mile of a park
7% of Spencer’s land is conserved, about 143 acres. 74 acres are parks and preserves, 22 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns · #73 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
143 acres · of 3.5 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
74 ac
22 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
98%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.3 mi
0.3 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Spencer?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Spencer have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Spencer is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #73 of 290 in North Carolina. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Spencer’s overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4DPark land22 acres of park per 1,000 residents (74 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home98% of residents within a half mile of a park · NC 51% · U.S. 72%A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 59%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 75%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Spencer. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
143 conserved acres
7% of Spencer’s land. Who manages Spencer’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources57 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits25 ac
Private owners24 ac
State conservation12 ac
Town or city7 ac
Not recorded215 ac
Local Conservation Area · 98 acPrivate Conservation · 74 acConservation Easement · 68 acState Other or Unknown · 58 acLocal Park · 30 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1 acre is a conservation easement, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 7 of 17 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 | 58 | Restricted |
| Town of Spencer - Fred and Alice Stanback Educational Forest and Nature Preserve Local Conservation Area | Not recorded | 56 | Restricted |
| Three Rivers Land Trust Preserve - Wallace Private Conservation | Not recorded | 47 | Unknown |
| Spencer Woods Park Local Conservation Area | Not recorded | 42 | Restricted |
| Grants Creek Preserve Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 25 | Closed |
| Southern Railway Park Local Park | Private owners | 24 | Open |
| 8Th Street Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Town of Spencer - 8th Street Ball Field Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 6 | Open |
| Town of Spencer - Library Park Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 2 | Open |
| Town of Spencer Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 2 | Unknown |
3 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
2 places to go in Spencer
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Spencer
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in Spencer
1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Biking & sports
0.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
7Tennis
4Baseball
1Basketball
1Softball
1Football
1Soccer
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).
When to get out
The best walking months in Spencer: 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) | 51 | 55 | 63 | 72 | 79 | 86 | 89 | 87 | 81 | 72 | 62 | 54 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 4.3 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Spencer →
Next door
Spencer and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer | 7% | under 0.1 | 22 | 98% | B |
| Salisbury | 4% | 0.6 | 10 | 60% | B |
| East Spencer | 4% | 0.1 | 10 | 84% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Spencer
How much of Spencer is conserved land?
7% 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 Spencer’s trails?
Yadkin River Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Spencer?
0.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Spencer?
7,422 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Spencer or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 74 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Spencer have?
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #73 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 Spencer 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 →