Wendell Park
Park
31 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Sunnyside · Photo: Nicholas Oren Rawlings · CC BY-SA 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Wendell
Wendell has 189 acres of parks, 14 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Wendell Park (0.7 mi). 90% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 5% of Wendell’s land is conserved, about 300 acres.
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns · #61 of 290 in North Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
300 acres · of 9.7 sq mi of land
Trails
2.5 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
189 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
90%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
6.7 mi
6.7 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
6
What kind of outdoors town is Wendell?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Wendell have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Wendell is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #61 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 Wendell’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical NC town 3% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · NC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (189 acres) · NC 8 · U.S. 13BParks close to home90% of residents within a half mile of a park · NC 51% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 64%
LessMore
North Carolina towns of 2,500+ (290)Ahead of 79%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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 Wendell Park, with 0.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Hollybrook Park
Park
11 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Cedamere park
Park
5 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
300 conserved acres
5% of Wendell’s land. Who manages Wendell’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Land trusts & nonprofits149 ac
Town or city42 ac
Other state land36 ac
County25 ac
Private owners24 ac
Not recorded299 ac
Local Recreation Area · 288 acConservation Easement · 125 acLocal Conservation Area · 64 acUnknown Easement · 60 acState Other or Unknown · 36 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 3 of 16 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wake County Open Space - OS-093 Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 125 | Open |
| Town of Wendell Open Space - OS-030 Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 78 | Open |
| Wendell Park Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 37 | Unknown |
| NC Land and Water Fund Conservation Agreement State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 36 | Restricted |
| Wake County Open Space Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 35 | Open |
| Buffalo Creek Cypress Swamp Local Conservation Area | Private owners | 24 | Open |
| Town of Wendell Open Space Local Recreation Area | Not recorded | 21 | Open |
| Wake County Open Space Land Local Recreation Area | County | 20 | Open |
| Thompson Field Local Recreation Area | County | 5 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 3 | Open |
3 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
4 places to go in Wendell
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Wendell
4 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
6 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
6.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
6.7 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Pickleball
3Baseball
2Tennis
2Basketball
1Volleyball
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →5 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 Wendell: 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) | 10.0 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.0 | 14.6 | 14.4 | 13.5 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 9.7 |
| High (°F) | 52 | 55 | 63 | 73 | 80 | 87 | 90 | 88 | 82 | 72 | 63 | 55 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.0 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 5.2 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Wendell →
Next door
Wendell and its neighbors
Wendell 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wendell | 5% | 0.3 | 14 | 90% | B |
| Zebulon | 2% | 0.1 | 12 | 46% | C |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Wendell
Where can I hike in Wendell?
The longest trail networks: Wendell Park, 0.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Wendell is conserved land?
5% 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 Wendell’s trails?
Wendell Park and Hollybrook Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Wendell?
6.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 6.7 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Wendell?
10,441 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Wendell or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 189 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Wendell have?
Ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #61 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 Wendell 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 →