At the end of May family visited us for the weekend so we headed out on Sunday morning with my aunt, sis-in-law, and niece to explore a new park in northeast Raleigh, Spring Forest Road Park. I’d been wanting to check this place out ever since I heard earlier this year that it was going to be one of the parks to host the Hot Air Balloon Festival. With such a massive open area surrounded by a walking trail and shade trees it’s no wonder it was chosen for such a festival.
Spring Forest Road Park is located at 4203 Spring Forest Road, east of Capital Blvd, near a fire station, and not far from Triangle Town Center. After arriving in the parking lot, we took a short walk along the trail to the nearby playground. The playground is in a very sunny location and has a sandy base. It has several slides, monkey bars, and climbing areas that are all connected, making this a playground for ages 2-12. The first few steps lead to a small slide for the younger ages and a big step leads to a jumpy suspension bridge, two twisty slides, a covered “castle” area (deemed so by Ashley), and a curved ladder. After the girls exhausted my aunt on the playground they settled in with some sand toys that we brought from home. Being that the sand and playground area was so sunny, we enjoyed a quick snack on the nearby benches before taking a walk around the loop trail.
We passed several small groups of folks walking that morning and noticed signs advertising walking programs held through the City of Raleigh/Wake County on their information boards. They also advertised several zumba and kickboxing evening classes held here, which sound like a fun place to meet up with neighbors and friends in the evening. The paved trail is 1/2 mile loop with a few small hills and passes through some shady spots. The surrounding open space must be one of the largest open fields in the whole park system, especially if it was large enough to house a hot air balloon festival. We also passed a baseball field before returning to the parking lot where the large pavilion with restrooms and tennis courts with backboards are located. Several types of flowers were in bloom and the trees were full of leaves throughout the park making you forget it’s just a short distance from busy Capital Blvd.
Thumbs up: large open space, great walking trail, community walking group/activities, landscaping
Thumbs down: very sunny playground area
After my mom’s sudden 
Curtis Park features an olympic-size outdoor swimming pool with a large baby pool with splash umbrella and zero-depth entry, 18-hole 
Past the open field is a large parking lot with access to the pools, nature trails and large pavilion on top of the hill overlooking the pool. Further down the main road is the large lake for fishing and boating and more nature trails. The main fishing pier and boat ramp is accessible from the other side of the lake on Stony Hill Rd (you must exit the park). After our playground time we picnicked on top of the hill, which offers the best views of the park. The girls enjoyed chasing each other while taking in the site of the drained pool below. The Olympic-size pool has depths of 3ft and 4ft in the shallower end to 12ft in the deep end. The baby pool features a zero-depth entry and splash umbrella. The deep end has two diving board blocks, but with it being out of season when we visited I’m not sure if they actually allow diving. I have very vivid memories of jumping off the since removed 3-meter springboard and 5-meter platform boards during off hours. Being the daughter of the Aquatics Director had its perks!
One sunny morning this winter we headed out to Cary for haircuts followed by a visit to the nearby Robert Godbold Park. I’m always impressed by the Town of Cary parks and despite being an older park it packed the fun.
After exhausting the playground we walked over to the basketball courts to run around some more. We had a quick snack on the nearby picnic tables and then ran through the woods a bit before walking to the adjacent skate park to check out all the construction. The skate park was temporarily closed for renovations, but according to the 
On New Year’s Day 2015 we visited the 
Once the families gathered at the trail head, the park rangers explained more about the short .75 mile hike and gave each child a scavenger hunt brochure of things to look for along the way. Ashley was a little too young for the scavenger hunt, but the older kids had a great time. They also explained the 
In the past our hiking experiences with our kids have mostly been self-guided with very basic objectives: 1) survive (
We took advantage of another clear, sunny day this winter and stumbled upon Hill Street Park in east Raleigh. Never having been there before we set off with hopes of having a picnic after burning some energy on the playground and that’s exactly what we did!
After a lot of running around we picnicked on the nearby benches by the playground. The playground has little morning light so we huddled on a lone sunny bench to stay warm. We had the park to ourselves this particular weekday morning and look forward to sharing this hidden gem with friends next time!
Kelly Glen Park is located at 
This fall we wanted to further explore Falls Lake so we set off with intentions to start closer to the dam and finish 
The playground is designed for ages 5-12 and includes a few slides, climbing structures, tic-tac-toe, and several nearby picnic tables and benches. It’s a small playground, but the perfect size for a park with so many more activities. After taking in the views from the top of the dam, we walked down the unpaved trail adjacent to the playground where we got up close and personal with the beginning of the Neuse River. The girls enjoyed throwing rocks in the water while we saw fishermen and birds. There’s also a small parking lot, canoe launch, restrooms, information map, picnic tables, and access to the start of the Neuse River Trail greenway at the bottom of the dam.
This Fall, we visited Bill’s parents in Howard County, MD and made a morning trip to the nearby Western Regional Park. Western Regional Park is located at 
After exhausting our climbing skills, we explored the nearby paved trail in search for the other playground. At the end of our short walk we saw a large lighted multipurpose artificial turf field with field hockey, soccer and football goals, a large open field, small mobile concessions, fenced-in basketball, community center, baseball fields, a line of porta-johns, tennis courts, and a playground. Unfortunately the playground was being resurfaced while we were there so it was closed, but looked like it offered a lot for all ages and was fenced in! The multipurpose field conditions were pristine – the grass was a luscious green color and very well maintained. Another interesting feature of this park is the natural area preserved next to the sports fields; I imagine the spectators enjoy some depth to the typically flat parks.
There’s also a separate smaller basketball art sculpture for the younger kids. The girls had such fun shooting baskets and watching the ball spiral down the ramp. If you forget your basketball or don’t have one, the friendly staff at the community center will let your borrow their ball.
