Sports and Recreation

Adults and kids alike enjoy this immensely popular activity and can be seen skating on the nearly 5-mile-long bike path at Greenfield Lake or in the lighted skating facility, the Greenfield Grind Skate Park (see Skateboarding in this chapter).

Inline skating is banned in Wilmington's downtown central business area and Historic District. Recreational and commuter skaters on city streets and sidewalks can be fined. So where do you go to skate? UNCW offers long stretches of wide, paved walks, including smooth, curvy stretches surrounding the lake at the university commons.

One of the best places to skate is the Loop at Wrightsville Beach. Consisting of paved walks totaling approximately 2.45 miles, the Loop runs along Wrightsville Beach Park, Causeway Drive, Lumina Avenue and Salisbury Street. There are plenty of places to stop for a cool refreshment or a dip in the ocean along the way. The Loop is busy during peak times with walkers, runners and strollers packing the pathway, so an early morning skate is just the ticket. 

Bald Head Island is a true skate haven, where the only other traffic on the smoothly paved byways is golf carts and bicycles.