Very nice park. Great place to walk or chill

Brilliant, wide open park with a giant lake surrounded completely by a paved shoreline walkway. Numerous benches, a long bridge and several nice fishing piers are featured. Great place to walk your dog and picnicking spots abound. One whole side of the park is flanked by a sprawling swamp where access is wisely forbidden and well posted. Would be extremely peaceful were it not for the loud gunfire emanating from the firing range across the swamp.

Peaceful, a nice place to relax and/or go fishing. Very pleasant experience.

Folks, we are lucky to have a place like this so close. A very nice 1.5 mile paved walking track, with a beautiful continuous view of the lake and all of the things of nature that come with it. You can watch the eagles fly, the ducks playing on top of the water. You can see fish swimming and an occasional harmless banded water snake. Even deer are present at the park sometimes. This is a pet friendly park, and they have stations that supply bags to pick up poop that comes from your pet (please pick up after your dog). A nice playground for the kids, that includes a zip-line, just a great place to spend some relaxing time.

Beautiful lake and walk around it has so many views and things to do. We just walked around the park for the exercise and beauty. They have fishing areas, rental boats on weekends in the fall, pavilions, disc golf, bathrooms, grills at pavilions and horseshoe pits. I am not the biggest fan of Gastonia but this is a gem in the rough.

Beautiful park to go on a walk!! Stunning lake views and you can see a pretty cool sunset at golden hour! I keep coming back here all year long.

Nice little park with a paved trail around the lake. Pavillions were well maintained.

This is a nice park with easy walking paths and some pretty, peaceful scenery.

I like to come here for a quick motivating run. Nice ring around the lake, over a mile. Nice to walk as well. Has places to sit, fish and a play ground. Gorgeous in the fall. People are friendly and give greeting! Has a lot of green space for a picnic. There are grills also on site.

He loved the zipline. I had an adrenaline rush from it and the spinning chair lol

It's the most amazing place to go. Clean. It was great to pass time with family and friends ❤️ 😊 .

beautiful place for hiking, I like to take photos of the landscape. BUT there are hidden dangers, the last time I went (April 2023) I found a poisonous snake, so be careful, especially if you sit on the rocks.

Very calm quiet and picturesque for walks. Chance upon some fish, ducks, turtles, or geese and dragonfly, or like us a crayfish while chatting with your mate, just makes it better!!!

Rankin Lake State Park is a beautiful and serene park that offers various outdoor activities. The park is well-maintained, and the staff is friendly and helpful. The lake is perfect for fishing and paddling, boating, kayaking, and the hiking trails offer picturesque views of the surrounding nature. We rented a motor boat and we only paid 10 dollars for an hour and that’s really affordable.

Such a beautiful park and lake, but I didn't realize the shooting range was right next door. Shots were going off the entire time we walked around the lake. My dog wasn't having it. I would definitely go back during the hours the range isn't open.

The lake was beautiful as ever. They were draining out some water due to all the rain. Also the wild life was roaming around.

My family recently had a picnic near the lake at this park. This is a beautiful and very clean location. It was a plus the restrooms were very close to us. It was very hot day, but the occasional wind blowing off the lake and the water fight kept us cool. I will definitely return. We had an amazing time. I appreciate the park employees being very attentive.

This is quite a little gem of a spot off the highway. Has a beautiful playground, and there is a lake within view. If you have youth aged kids, this is a great way to get rid of some energy. I would like to say that if you have high sensitivity to auditory sounds that this is a better playground- the surrounding foliage absorbs a good bit of the noise from the activities.

I love coming to Rankin Lake. It's a great place to walk or ride your bike. Sometimes, I even hang up my hammock near the creek. They have a great playground with an awesome Zipline.