Sunset Beach Park
Park
6 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Chris Currivan · CC BY-SA 3.0COutdoors
Outdoors in Sunset Beach
Sunset Beach has 11 miles of mapped trails, 1.7 for every square mile of land
7% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 6 acres are parks and preserves, 1.4 per 1,000 residents. 2% of Sunset Beach’s land is conserved, about 73 acres.
Ahead of 32% of U.S. towns · #173 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
73 acres · of 6.4 sq mi of land
Trails
11 mi
1.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
6 ac
1.4 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
7%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.9 mi
1.9 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
2
3 beaches · 2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Sunset Beach?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sunset Beach have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sunset Beach is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #173 of 290 in North Carolina. Trail miles hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sunset Beach’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%C+Trails1.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (11 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4APark land1.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents (6 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home7% of residents within a half mile of a park · NC 51% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 32%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 40%
Water is 15% of Sunset Beach’s area (1 of 8 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 2%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D 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 Sunset Beach Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Bird Island Reserve
Nature preserve
17 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
73 conserved acres
2% of Sunset Beach’s land. Water is left out: Sunset Beach has 6.4 square miles of land and 1.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Sunset Beach’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Not recorded89 ac
State Other or Unknown · 82 acLocal Recreation Area · 5 acLocal Other or Unknown · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bird Island Coastal Reserve State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 65 | Open |
| NC Land and Water Fund Project State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 16 | Restricted |
| Town of Sunset Beach - Sunset Beach Park Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 5 | Open |
| NC Department of Transportation Mitigation Site State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 2 | Unknown |
| Town of Sunset Beach Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
5 places to go in Sunset Beach
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Sunset Beach
Bald Beach
DirectionsPlus 2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Sunset Beach
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.5 mi
40th Street Beach Access0.2 mi
35th Street Beach Access0.1 mi
14th Street Beach Access0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.9 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
6Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Sunset Beach: 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) | 56 | 59 | 65 | 72 | 79 | 85 | 88 | 87 | 83 | 75 | 66 | 59 |
| Rain (in) | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 6.2 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
April is the driest month (3.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 6.8 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Sunset Beach →
Next door
Sunset Beach and its neighbors
Sunset Beach has the 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunset Beach | 2% | 1.7 | 1 | 7% | C |
| Calabash | under 1% | 1.3 | 1 | 20% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Sunset Beach
Where can I hike in Sunset Beach?
The longest trail networks: Sunset Beach Park, 0.3 miles; Bird Island Reserve, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Sunset Beach is conserved land?
2% 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 Sunset Beach’s trails?
Sunset Beach Park and Bird Island Reserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Sunset Beach?
1.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.9 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Sunset Beach?
3,742 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sunset Beach or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 66 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Sunset Beach have?
Ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #173 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 Sunset Beach 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 →