August, 2011 - raleighparks.org

Kentwood Park

February 27, 2012August 24, 2011 by Kris Montgomery

This post originally appeared on soutwestraleigh.com, where you can learn more about what a great place South West Raleigh is to live, work, and play.

Kentwood Park is located at 4531 Kaplan Dr in southwest Raleigh not far from the NC State campus and AB Combs Elementary School. It’s too bad the park entrance sign is missing, but given the park’s proximity to the road, it’s hard to miss the entrance.

From the medium-sized parking lot near the entrance you can get to all the park’s features within a very short walking distance. Follow the steps up to one of the four lighted tennis courts or follow the sidewalk to the large playground area and pavilion with picnic table

Unfortunately, the recent rains seemed to have resulted in more silt and sand covering the pavilion area. Near the back of the parking lot is a building with restrooms and a community board. The restrooms have certainly seen better days, but be sure to check out the community board especially if you’re interested in frisbee golf leagues. Just past the building is the lighted baseball field complete with bleacher seating for the spectators.

Signs are posted on the way to the baseball field alerting patrons of the stream restoration project that is in process. The sign notes that the City is intentionally not mowing sections of the park in order to allow the natural vegetation to build up and stabilize the stream bank. Check out the information plaque for more details about the in-progress restoration.

This is one of the few parks in Raleigh with an 18-hole frisbee golf course. It begins near Kaplan Dr and ends between the baseball field and tennis courts. Being close to NC State this is a very popular place for college students to play, as we saw several kids playing golf that day. Not ever having played frisbee golf, my competitive nature will definitely bring me back to the park soon to play.

Thumbs up: frisbee golf, tennis courts, playground

Thumbs down: bathroom facilities, landscaping, lack of park entrance sign

Museum Park

March 14, 2020August 19, 2011 by Kris Montgomery

The Museum Park is located on the grounds of the NC Museum of Art at 2110 Blue Ridge Rd just outside the beltline. Part of the trail through the park is shared with the Reedy Creek Trail greenway, which connects Meredith College to Umstead Park and Schenck Forest. The museum was renovated a few years ago and besides biking the greenway past the museum, I hadn’t really stopped to visit this park. So, we parked in the museum parking lot and followed the paved trail towards the very easy-to-read information board.

The information board highlights four different walking paths to take and breaks it out by distance, walking time, calories burned, and features you’ll see along the way. Because it was a very hot Sunday and we had the stroller, we opted for the one-mile Ambler path, which allowed us to explore several works of art on the paved trail close to the museum. For those planning ahead, here is a map of the park.

P1000935 — Information plaque with details about the park

Here are the works of art we passed along the Ambler path:

P1000937 — Wind Machine by Vollis Simpson

P1000949 — Close up of Gyre filled with concrete and covered in dirt residue

P1000960 — The Conversationalist by Chakaia Booker

P1000963 — Lowe’s Pavilion by Mike Cindric and Vincent Petrarc

P1000964 — Another view of Lowe’s Pavilion, made of steel, wood, aluminum, and concrete

A photographer’s dream shoot, the Museum Park has a gorgeous landscape of rolling hills with a sprinkle of wooded forests between the East Museum Building and the outdoor works of art.

P1000938 — Looking down at the Gyre artwork

P1000948 — Looking back towards the Wind Machine artwork

P1000961 — Part of the unpaved trail on the Museum Park grounds

P1000966 — An unpaved pathway through the park

P1000967 — Great shady pathway for a picnic on the bench

Next, we explored one of the newer (to me, at least) features of the park, The Pond area. With over 20,000 plants installed, this area helps with runoff, water pollution, and settling for sediment. The terraced landscaping and even spacing of the plants had an Asian design feel to it, but what do I know! Here’s a list of the various plants installed and some pictures to detail the beauty of this area:

What outdoor museum would be complete without an amphitheater and outdoor movie screen?! The NC Museum of Art holds several outdoor concerts and movies throughout the summer months. Having finally made it to an outdoor movie last summer to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox, I can attest to how much fun they are. So, bring a picnic dinner, lawn chairs or blanket, and some cash (for the beer/wine tent) and you’ve got the perfect, cheap summer night planned! Btw, The Social Network movie is playing tonight at 8:30pm.

P1000977 — Some of the seating areas for outdoor movies

P1000976 — Looking towards the amphitheater

Overall, this park offers much more than any average park. Whether just passing by on the greenway, planning a trip to the indoor museum, or watching a movie or concert be sure to plan enough time to explore the artwork in the Museum Park.

Thumbs up: picnic spots, rolling hills, outdoor artwork, outdoor movies/concerts, The Pond landscaping, information plaques/maps, parking

Thumbs down: few pockets of shade

Ridge Road Pool

July 14, 2014August 17, 2011 by Kris Montgomery

With the summer heat in full gear there’s no better place to cool off than at the pool. This past week we explored Ridge Road Pool at 1709 Ridge Rd in Raleigh. It’s adjacent to Martin Middle School, so as you pass the school, bear right where you’ll find the pool parking lot. The crape myrtles in the parking lot provide shade while you’re relaxing at the pool.

The sidewalk leading down to the pool entrance passes by the nicely terraced landscaping and bike rack areas. Before heading into the pool, you have to stop by the front desk to pay the entrance fee. Since I’m a Raleigh resident and I had a child under 1, we only had to pay $3. Once you pay, you’ll pass the restrooms, the lifeguard office, and the life vest rental office.

Lake Lynn Park

December 29, 2014August 15, 2011 by billmvt

A couple weeks ago I found myself in a terrifying position: at home alone with the baby for 36 hours. I hadn’t done that before. My lovely wife, the creator of this blog, was at the Britney Spears concert in Washington DC (I’m afraid I’m not joking) with her sister and some other troublemakers.

I asked my wife, “What do I do with the baby for that length of time?!” After an incredulous look followed by, “What do you think I do while you’re at work all week?” she politely suggested I take the baby to a yet unexplored park, take some pictures, and write a guest article on her blog. I did the first two at the end of July, and here I am mid-August completing the job.

My assignment was Lake Lynn Park. I had no idea there was a Lake Lynn. I knew Lynn Road from the shopping center with Goodwill and the movie theater that serves beer, but this lake was news to me. Turns out that it’s a great location for walking or running, and it’s teeming with fauna, considering its suburban location.

The park is squarely in north Raleigh, between 540 and 440 to the north and south, and Creedmoor Rd and Glenwood Ave to the east and west. I entered at 7921 Ray Rd and parked in a large, 90% empty parking lot on a Monday morning. (By the way, what were those 20 cars doing there? Don’t these people have jobs?) There is a large community center that looks like it’s used for things like summer camps, several lighted tennis courts, a lighted softball field, and a nice playground.

But, the real attraction is the lake and Lake Lynn Trail around it. The trail is alternately paved and a sort of boardwalk/causeway stretching over long sections of water. This segment of the greenway is part of the Hare Snip Creek Trail. I’ve heard it’s around 2 miles, but we didn’t make it to the halfway point before someone got fussy so we didn’t make it all the way around (I’ll leave who it was to your imagination).

There are waterfowl galore, including many stripes of duck and a camera-shy white swan. I even found a pair of adult turtles with their litter of babies sunning on a log, but they scattered when I was close enough for a photo. A little girl was feeding the ducks stale bread as we were leaving. I’m guessing this is a popular activity, due to the large duck population and their affinity to humans, hanging out within a few feet of a busy section of trail.

All in all, Ashley and I had a great time exploring this park. It’s another great Raleigh Parks facility, and ideal for going on a walk, feeding the ducks, or a short run with great scenery.

Umstead Park – Reedy Creek & Reedy Creek Lake Trails

February 27, 2012August 10, 2011 by Kris Montgomery

Two weekends ago we made a short drive to the Umstead Park entrance near the intersection of Reedy Creek Rd and Trenton Rd to try our new BOB stroller. We parked in the grassy median between the paved greenway trail and Reedy Creek Rd since there isn’t an actual parking lot. Be careful to abide by the parking signs.

Once in the park, we decided to head straight and follow the Reedy Creek Trail, which we’ve biked several times in the past. It’s a wide, gravel, mostly shady trail that is great for walking, running, biking, and horse back riding. It’s a very long trail that eventually goes past the Airport Overlook, crosses I-40 west of Harrison Ave, and connects with the Black Creek Greenway. Even though we didn’t see any horses that day, we’ve definitely seen them on cooler days. The new stroller glided over the gravel trail, but we did have to be more careful when going over washout areas.
Along Reedy Creek Trail, you’ll pass access to other popular trails such as the Loblolly Trail (heavily wooded trail for hiking) and Reedy Creek Lake Trail (access to the Harrison Ave entrance of Umstead Park). Knowing the Reedy Creek Lake Trail is a relatively short walk and passes by Reedy Creek Lake we made a sharp left turn onto Reedy Creek Lake Trail. You’ll immediately pass by Reedy Creek Lake, which is great for photo ops but swimming is prohibited. Horses are not allowed any further on this trail either. Here is a 360 degree video taken along the trail by the lake.

Continuing on the trail is a long, steep hill that eventually flattens out. It’s quite shady and also a gravel path, perfect for using the new stroller. Eventually you’ll come to the trail head at the paved Reedy Creek Pkwy, which leads to the Harrison Ave entrance of Umstead Park. Follow Reedy Creek Pkwy where you’ll pass the Park Ranger’s residence and eventually come to the large Harrison Ave parking lot. We needed to refill our water bottles, so once in the parking lot we stopped at the first shelter on the left, Shelter #2. We followed the paved sidewalk where we passed several picnic tables, charcoal grills, recycling areas, a water fountain, and a large pavilion for Shelter #2.

After a water refill, we quickly began our hike back to beat the encroaching heat! This has to be one of my favorite trails in Raleigh. It’s a great combination of shade, scenery, and steepness. Even though we walked most of the hike, the steep hills made for an exhausting workout. To extend your ride/walk further start by parking at the NC Museum of Art and following Reedy Creek Rd across Blue Ridge Rd and Edwards Mill Rd before arriving at Umstead Park.

Distances: