Folly Beach County Park
Managed by Charleston County Parks
51 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Folly Beach
Folly Beach has 107 acres of parks, 84 for every 1,000 residents
11% of Folly Beach’s land is conserved, about 899 acres. 1.1 miles of mapped trail cross Folly Beach, 0.1 per square mile of land. 77% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
899 acres · of 12.5 sq mi of land
Trails
1.1 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
107 ac
84 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
77%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.6 mi
1.6 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
4
3 beaches · 5 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Folly Beach?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Folly Beach have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Folly Beach is ahead of 71% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Folly Beach’s overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical SC town 1% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · SC 0.2 · U.S. 0.4CPark land84 acres of park per 1,000 residents (107 acres) · SC 6 · U.S. 13AParks close to home77% of residents within a half mile of a park · SC 52% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 71%
LessMore
Few South Carolina towns conserve much land (a typical one, 1%; the U.S., 4%), so Folly Beach’s 11% is ahead of 94% of South Carolina towns, while its trails per square mile lead 41% of them.
Water is 34% of Folly Beach’s area (6 of 19 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 7%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B 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
The longest trail network is Folly Beach County Park, with 0.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Folly Beach Pier
Managed by Charleston County Parks
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
899 conserved acres
11% of Folly Beach’s land. Water is left out: Folly Beach has 12.5 square miles of land and 6.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Folly Beach’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land627 ac
County214 ac
State natural resources40 ac
Town or city17 ac
State Other or Unknown · 627 acLocal Park · 152 acLocal Conservation Area · 78 acState Conservation Area · 40 acLocal Recreation Area · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 9 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State of South Carolina Marshland 9 State Other or Unknown | Other state land | 506 | Open |
| Folly Beach County Park Local Park | County | 135 | Open |
| Morris Island State Other or Unknown | Other state land | 120 | Unknown |
| Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve Local Conservation Area | County | 78 | Restricted |
| Bird Key-Stono Seabird Sanctuary State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 40 | Restricted |
| Folly Beach Local Park | Town or city | 16 | Open |
| Folly River Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
| Folly Beach Edwin S. Taylor Fishing Pier Local Recreation Area | County | 1 | Open |
Things to do
10 places to go in Folly Beach
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Folly Beach
3 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Folly Beach
1 playground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Dog parks in Folly Beach
1 dog park without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Folly Beach
5 boat launches without a name on the map.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 4 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.5 mi
Edwin S. Taylor Fishing Pier0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
1.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.6 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
5Tennis
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place 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.
Secessionville Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1979
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Folly 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) | 10.2 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 12.9 | 13.8 | 14.3 | 14.1 | 13.3 | 12.3 | 11.3 | 10.4 | 10.0 |
| High (°F) | 60 | 62 | 68 | 75 | 82 | 87 | 90 | 89 | 85 | 78 | 69 | 62 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 5.4 | 5.7 | 6.4 | 5.4 | 4.4 | 2.8 | 3.2 |
November is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 90 °F). 6.4 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 90 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Folly Beach →
Next door
Folly Beach and its neighbors
Folly Beach has the second 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Folly Beach | 11% | 0.1 | 84 | 77% | B+ |
| Charleston | 14% | 0.8 | 20 | 79% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Folly Beach
Where can I hike in Folly Beach?
The longest trail networks: Folly Beach County Park, 0.2 miles; Folly River Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Folly Beach is conserved land?
11% 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 Folly Beach’s trails?
Folly Beach County Park and Folly River Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Folly Beach?
1.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.6 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Folly Beach?
4,881 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Folly Beach or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 607 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Folly Beach have?
Ahead of 71% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Folly 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 →