Saint Stephens Park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
DOutdoors
Outdoors in St. Stephens
Few parks or trails are on the map in St. Stephens
5 acres are parks and preserves, 0.5 per 1,000 residents. 18% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 6% of U.S. towns · #278 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
under 1%
7 acres · of 9.0 sq mi of land
Trails
0.0 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
5 ac
0.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
18%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.4 mi
0.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does St. Stephens have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, St. Stephens is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #278 of 290 in North Carolina. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park comes closest.
D
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of St. Stephens’ overall grade.
Conserved landunder 1% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%C−Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4DPark land0.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (5 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13DParks close to home18% 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 6%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 4%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in St. Stephens. 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 still be D. 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
7 conserved acres
under 1% of St. Stephens’ land. Who manages St. Stephens’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County4 ac
Not recorded3 ac
Local Park · 4 acLocal Other or Unknown · 3 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 2 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Stephens Park Local Park | County | 4 | Open |
| City of Hickory Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 3 | Unknown |
Things to do
2 places to go in St. Stephens
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in St. Stephens
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
7Tennis
2Softball
2Baseball
1Beach volleyball
1Football
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in St. Stephens: April to June and August
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 | 14.4 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| High (°F) | 50 | 54 | 61 | 71 | 78 | 85 | 88 | 86 | 80 | 71 | 61 | 52 |
| Rain (in) | 3.8 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in St. Stephens →
Next door
St. Stephens and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in St. Stephens
How much of St. Stephens 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.
Are dogs allowed on St. Stephens’ trails?
Saint Stephens Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in St. Stephens?
0.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near St. Stephens?
2,425 acres of parks and open public land lie inside St. Stephens or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does St. Stephens have?
Ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #278 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 St. Stephens 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 →