1
Catawba College Ecological Preserve
Nature preserve
109 acres2 mi of trail
Bill Stanback Birding LoopDr. Stephan WursterPipeline Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Outdoors · Salisbury
Salisbury, NC parks, trails & bike paths
About 3.8% of Salisbury is conserved land, roughly 557 acres. There are about 15 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Catawba College Ecological Preserve (2 mi), Elizabeth Holmes Hurley Mem. Park (0.7 mi), and Jaycee-Optimists Sports Complex (0.6 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Salisbury, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Salisbury outdoors
Conserved land
3.8%
557 of 14,779 acres
Trails
15 mi
0.6 mi per sq mi · 5 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
14
16 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
11.5 mi
4.7 mi lanes · 3.7 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Elizabeth Holmes Hurley Mem. Park
Park
17 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Jaycee-Optimists Sports Complex
Park
10 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
4
Town Creek Park
Park
20 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
5
Cannon Park
Managed by Salisbury Parks and Rec
5 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 14 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 14 parks & preserves
Catawba College Ecological Preserve109 acres · 2 mi of trail
Elizabeth Holmes Hurley Mem. Park17 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Jaycee-Optimists Sports Complex10 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
Town Creek Park20 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Cannon Park5 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Salisbury Parks and Rec
Salisbury City Park22 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Bell Tower Green4 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Greenway4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Rowan County Fair25 acres · Rowan County Agriculture and Industrial Fair
Forest Hills Park8 acres
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Public pools in Salisbury
Eastwood Village Pool
Fred M. Evans PoolIn Lincoln Park
Trails
Named trails
Unpaved 2.2 mi
- Bill Stanback Birding Loop0.9 mi
- Dr. Stephan Wurster0.5 mi
- Pipeline Trail0.5 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
557 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 82 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 14 of 39 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes4.7 mi
- Off-road bike paths3.7 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes3.1 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis30
- Basketball15
- Baseball8
- Pickleball6
- Football3
- Softball1
- Soccer1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Salisbury
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Local Park 347 acUnknown Easement 232 acState Other or Unknown 133 acPrivate Conservation 39 acConservation Easement 5 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catawba College Ecological PreserveLocal Park | Other state land | 182 | Open |
| Piedmont Correctional InstitutionState Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 80 | Restricted |
| Salisbury Nature Study Registered Heritage AreaState Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 44 | Access unknown |
| Memorial ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 28 | Open |
| Town Creek ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 25 | Open |
| Grants Creek PreservePrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 24 | Closed |
| City ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 22 | Open |
| Kelsey Scott ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| Hurley ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| Three Rivers Land Trust PreservePrivate Conservation | Not recorded | 15 | Access unknown |
History
Historic places to visit
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
Empire HotelBuilding
Flag PolesMonument
Joseph Charles Price High SchoolBuilding
Maine MonumentMonument
Patriot’s Flag ConcourseIn Salisbury City Park · Memorial
Soldier MonumentMonument
Wrenn HouseIn Bell Tower Green · Building
Chestnut Hill CemeteryCemetery
Dixonville CemeteryCemetery
Memorial Park CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Salisbury and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salisbury | 3.8% | 14.9 mi | 14 |
| Spencer | 6.5% | 0.0 mi | 1 |
| East Spencer | 4.3% | 0.3 mi | 1 |
| Granite Quarry | 5.6% | 0.0 mi | 2 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Salisbury's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 26.6-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.