Oscar Fraizer Park
Park
29 acres0.5 mi of trail
Oscar Frazier Fitness Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: Townofbluffton · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Bluffton
Bluffton has 997 acres of parks, 30 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Oscar Fraizer Park (0.5 mi). 6% of Bluffton’s land is conserved, about 2,062 acres. 7.7 miles of mapped trail cross Bluffton, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns · #43 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
2,062 acres · of 52.1 sq mi of land
Trails
7.7 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
997 ac
30 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
46%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
13 mi
13 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
4
2 boat launches
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bluffton have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bluffton is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #43 of 169 in South Carolina. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bluffton’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical SC town 1% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · SC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land30 acres of park per 1,000 residents (997 acres) · SC 6 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home46% of residents within a half mile of a park · SC 52% · U.S. 72%C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 54%
LessMore
South Carolina towns of 2,500+ (169)Ahead of 75%
Few South Carolina towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Bluffton’s 6% is ahead of 83% of South Carolina towns, while its trails per square mile lead 48% of them.
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 Oscar Fraizer Park, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
eviCore Healthcare Park
Park
2 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Bluffton Buckwalter Rec Center
Park
30 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
The Mill House Sports Center
Park
16 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 12 parks & preserves
Oscar Fraizer Park29 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
eviCore Healthcare Park2 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsNew River Linear Trail Park Entrance11 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsBluffton Oyster Factory Park6 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsBuckwalter Park1 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
DirectionsBluffton Buckwalter Rec Center30 acres
The Mill House Sports Center16 acres
Michael C. Riley Sports Complex14 acres · Parks and Recreation
Bluffton Swimming Pool2 acres
Wright Family Park1 acres · Town of Bluffton
Martin Family Park1 acres · Town of Bluffton
DirectionsDubois Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
2,062 conserved acres
6% of Bluffton’s land. Who manages Bluffton’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County947 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits806 ac
Town or city309 ac
Conservation Easement · 806 acLocal Resource Management Area · 675 acLocal Other or Unknown · 383 acLocal Park · 184 acLocal Recreation Area · 14 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 806 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 20 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Riverside I Local Other or Unknown | County | 457 | Unknown |
| New Riverside II Local Resource Management Area | County | 292 | Open |
| Buckwalter Park Local Park | Town or city | 142 | Open |
| Bluffton Park Forest Local Resource Management Area | Town or city | 127 | Open |
| Garvey Hall Forest Local Resource Management Area | County | 98 | Open |
| Okatie West (Okatie Preserve) Local Other or Unknown | County | 84 | Unknown |
| Oscar Frazier Park Local Park | Town or city | 32 | Open |
| McRiley Complex Local Recreation Area | County | 14 | Open |
| Red Cedar Place At Bluffton Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Oyster Factory Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
2 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
9 places to go in Bluffton
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Bluffton
7 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Bluffton
Moreland Landing
DirectionsPlus 1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 3.2 miUnpaved · 5.9 mi
New River Linear Trail3.2 mi
Future Bluffton Parkway0.5 mi
Oscar Frazier Fitness Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
13 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
13 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
22Tennis
12Baseball
5Soccer
5Pickleball
4Basketball
2Football
1Multi-sport
1Skate park
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 Bluffton: 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) | 10.3 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.8 | 14.2 | 14.1 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.5 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 61 | 65 | 71 | 78 | 84 | 89 | 92 | 90 | 86 | 79 | 70 | 63 |
| Rain (in) | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 6.2 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 2.4 | 3.1 |
November is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 92 °F). 6.2 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 92 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Bluffton →
Questions about parks and trails in Bluffton
Where can I hike in Bluffton?
The longest trail networks: Oscar Fraizer Park, 0.5 miles; eviCore Healthcare Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Bluffton is conserved land?
6% of its land, against a typical 1% for a South Carolina town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Bluffton’s trails?
Oscar Fraizer Park and eviCore Healthcare Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Bluffton?
13 miles of bike routes are on the map: 13 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Bluffton?
14,407 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bluffton or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 999 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bluffton have?
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #43 of 169 in South 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 Bluffton 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 →