Before summer ended, we explored a new section of Crabtree Creek Trail via bike. With the hot and humid weather, we knew pushing a double stroller would be tough, so why not pull the girls by a bike trailer?! The girls were super excited about the prospect of riding in a bike trailer and despite having to cut our trip short because of a busted bike chain we had a great morning ride and even stumbled upon a new park.
After borrowing a friend’s bike trailer, we parked along the street at 2497 Ratchford Dr near the intersection of Capital Blvd and hopped on the nearby Crabtree Creek Trail at milepost 7.5. We turned left onto the wooden boardwalk heading south east along the trail. After a short ride on the boardwalk we biked under Capital Blvd and under the train tracks before coming to another long boardwalk stretching over a large pond near the intersection of Raleigh Blvd. Along this long stretch of the boardwalk are a large gazebo and marsh lands, great for stopping to check out the turtles, frogs and insects inhabiting the water.
After crossing over the pond we arrived at the busy Raleigh Blvd/Crabtree Blvd intersection. It was a bit hairy with the bike and the trailer, but we survived and crossed at the cross walk near milepost 7. Continuing on we followed the paved trail, which was mostly flat with a few hills scattered throughout. Around milepost 5 we stumbled upon a neighborhood park, Lockwood Park, at the intersection of Crabtree Blvd/Remington Rd.
Lockwood Park is small fenced-in park designed mostly for ages 5-12. It has a large climbing rock boulder, sand box with diggers, swings, and large playground with slides and various climbing structures. The playground has a rubberized surface with a picnic table and benches and a nearby open grassy field. The girls loved climbing on the boulders the best, but were also excited to get back into the bike trailer to continue on our ride.
We weren’t 5 minutes back into our ride before Bill’s bike chain completely broke in half going up a steep hill. Luckily we weren’t far from the playground, so we walked the bike and trailer back to the playground while I booked it 2.75 miles back to retrieve the car and rescue them. Despite having our bike ride cut short, we had a fun time on our first bike trailer excursion and look forward to doing it again soon!
Thumbs up: having a playground along the greenway, scenery along boardwalk over pond
Thumbs down: busy Crabtree Blvd/Raleigh Blvd intersection, lack of signage at Lockwood Park
What an exciting time to be parents, in Raleigh with all their parks and trails, and with two little gals ready for adventure. Thanks for sharing with me. Sorry about the bike chain….
Love, G Bev