Explore the best rated trails in Wilmington, NC, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Jacksonville-Camp LeJeune Rail-to-Trails and Island Greenway . With more than 5 trails covering 36 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
We usually leave from Carolina Beach State Park and cross Dow Rd and turn right to get to the trail. Using the trail and some quiet roads in the center of the island you can avoid Dow Rd altogether to get to the end where Dow Rd turns to the beach. It’s not a long trail, for sure, but it serves a great little purpose especially for the casual rider who doesn’t want to ride on Dow Rd.
A third of the ride is designated bike trail, the other two thirds are streets, and a few are very busy streets! Many street crossings, and signage is fair. Had to check the map several times to make sure we were on the bikeway. Won’t ride this ever again.
A good portion of this trail presents as a sidewalk along a busy road. Still decent park views, old trolley lines and water side rides at this end. The real beauty is at the Halyburton Park end. Wooded, all natural, rolling hills, the smell of pine and lots of critters. Peaceful and rewarding.
This cross-city trial is really just a sidewalk that runs alongside high traffic roadways and through constructions sites, and dangerous intersections. Beware! Drivers will run you down! There is no wildlife or nature to enjoy along the way. Just traffic buzzing by. If sniffing noxious fumes from passing vehicles is your thing you will love it!
The actual trail head is just beside the Jacksonville Station (it’s a bus transit station) 1300 N Marine Blvd Great place to park in the long term area and get on. Wonderful benches along the public side of the military base fence all along the trail. We took our four year old the whole way on his bike and enjoyed it. It was work on the way back, but good. Def park at the bus station.
Another place to park and start the trail is at the new (old) Jacksonville Station on Marine Blvd. It has plenty of free parking and the trail passes right in front of the station. From there it is 4.9 miles to another public parking area just outside of one of the Camp Lejeune gates. At about the halfway point, just after crossing on the elevated pedestrian walkway you can take the side trail which takes you app. 3 miles to the Memorial Gardens . This whole section of the trail is well paved and well maintained.
Since moving to Wilmington several years ago, the Gary Shell Cross Trail is the best biking trail that I’ve discovered so far! Most of the trail is paved with signage leading the way, keep your eyes peeled. You’ll have to get creative when crossing several busy roads but, overall it’s a relative easy ride. You’ll pass the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM), bike through several parks and even get to explore some of UNCW’s main campus. You can stop for refreshments at Flying Machine Brewery, Soundside Seafood and Raw Bar, or Drift (either at Autumn Hall or R Wrightsville BeCh).
This is a great first ride in Wilmington to learn some nieborhoods. Could use a little better signage.
Not a fan. Poor to non-existant signage - extremely difficult to follow. Some stretches of sidewalk, some bike lanes, some dedicated bike paths - none of which connect smoothly. Rode four frustrating miles and turned around.
Just get out a road map and go for it if you are extremely comfortable road riding. Wilmington is a beautiful town that has had little interest in building bike paths. They think calling a heavily trafficked road a bike path if you add a sign.
I rode this in December 2022 As most of it is on road I would call this a bike route and not really a trail Some of the on road sections are on busy roads without a specific bike lane Some of the route in the downtown area is on brick pavement so not fun to ride on I did see lots of signs for the trail where turns required Some other comments mentioned parts of it are in unsafe areas. I certainly did not feel that was true.
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