east Raleigh

Mingo Creek Trail MP 0 to 2.25

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IMG_8407Looking for a fun family bike ride over the holiday weekend? Discover the Mingo Creek Trail of Knightdale where it features flat rides, long causeways and interesting creek life!

We love finding new (to us) greenway sections to explore, so we headed to Anderson Point Park to access the Mingo Creek Trail. Mingo Creek Trail is part of the Town of Knightdale’s greenway system that connects from the Neuse River Trail. We parked in the large parking lot (just outside the main entrance to Anderson Point Park) and biked north on the Neuse River Trail.

We shortly passed MP 17 for the Neuse River Trail and then turned right, following signs for Mingo Creek Trail. Then, we winded up a paved path before biking across the Neuse River. The trail eventually led to a clearing with residential homes on one side and railroad tracks on the opposite side. Around MP 1, the trail’s gradual hill leveled out to the Princeton Manor neighborhood at the Hodge Rd intersection.

IMG_8426We maneuvered through the neighborhood sidewalks and carefully crossed Hodge Rd to continue on Mingo Creek Trail. Shortly after, we biked along the half-mile causeway, which was sandwiched between marshy areas and residential homes. We stopped on the causeway to watch the turtle and duck families sunning in the water. A great heron (or egret) also caught our eye.

Eventually we biked under the I-540 bridge and turned around at the Lynnwood Rd Connector at MP 2.25. Knowing we’d have a 2.25-mile return trip, we enjoyed a picnic on the side of the trail before calling it a successful ride. I hope to bring the girls back to finish biking this trail over the summer where it ends at Mingo Creek Park.

Thumbs up: easy to read Town of Knightdale greenway map with incremental markings and mileage table, connection to the larger Neuse River Trail for longer rides, interesting wildlife viewing in marsh, great family bike ride, sunny bridges and causeways make for great photo ops

Thumbs down: lack of signs made maneuvering through neighborhood near Hodge Rd confusing

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Hill Street Park

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IMG_8997We 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!

Hill Street Park is located at 2307 Hill St at the bottom of a relatively steep hill.  It has a very colorful community center that is mostly open for after-school programs and an adjacent pavilion with picnic tables and terraced landscaping to the nearby partially fenced-in playground.  The playground area has a playground with slides, climbing ladder, steering wheel and nearby tot swings for the younger kids (ages 2-5).  There is also a large play structure for the older kids (ages 5-12) that features a half-moon rope climbing structure, monkey bars, balance beam, spinning bars, climbing rings, slide and more.  Both kids had a great time playing on both playgrounds and Claire had a fabulous time sitting in the dog-height water fountain bowl.  Claire went down the small slides at least a dozen times and Ashley enjoyed climbing her way through each rope obstacle on the bigger kid playground.  The bigger kid playground reminds me a lot of the indoor play structure at Greystone Community Center on crack.  With so many climbing areas it’s nice any falls will be lessened by the rubberized surface.

IMG_9010After 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!

Thumbs up: unique climbing structures, close proximity of pavilion to playground

Thumbs down: no access to restrooms when community center is closed

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Neuse River Trail: MP 13.25 to 15 & Suspension Bridge

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While I’ll be at the beach over Labor Day week, I wanted to share a must-do item for exploring Raleigh over the holiday weekend.  If you’re looking for some exercise, flora, fauna and beautiful scenery, this portion of the Neuse River Trail is it – it has a suspension bridge, croaking frogs, majestic herons, and an old dam!

Most recently we explored the Neuse River Trail from milepost 13.25 to 15.  We parked in the small paved residential lot at 2894 Abington Ln in east Raleigh.  After a short run down to the trail, we came to the compass in the greenway and decided to head north for a bit in search of the huge suspension bridge (by looking at the online greenway map, it looks like you cross the river just north of here).   Within 1/4 of mile we came upon the suspension bridge at milepost 13.5, which seems to come out of the middle of nowhere!  It seems so unique and breathtaking to me to have a suspension bridge on the greenway; I’m pretty sure I got goosebumps (granted it was 100+ degrees outside) and felt very sentimental for my city!

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We ran another 1/4 mile north until milepost 13.25 and then turned around and headed south.  We ran back over the suspension bridge where we saw some fisherman casting lines.  Further along we passed residential homes to the west and wetlands to the east with several overpasses in between and white barn fencing in certain areas that gave this trail a farm-like feeling.  There are more stretches of sunny parts along this trail than what I’m used to, I think mostly due to the neighborhood developments; it added some intensity to this hot summer run so don’t forget extra water!

We ran south until the Milburnie Dam, which we have explored in the past.  Again, it’s amazing to see what parts of Raleigh you’ll miss if you don’t get on foot!  So get out and explore this weekend!

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Thumbs up: beautiful views, wetlands with information signs, suspension bridge, parking lot with access to trail, mile markers

Thumbs down: nothing to report

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Neuse River Trail: MP 11.5 – 13.25

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Over Memorial Day weekend, we headed out to Buffaloe Road Athletic Park to run along the Neuse River Trail and then have some playground time back at the park.  Unfortunately, the playground was closed for resurfacing so our short run turned into a much longer run and lucky for us the girls didn’t mind too much.

Buffaloe Road Athletic Park is located at 5812 Buffaloe Rd in east Raleigh.  We parked in the parking lot adjacent to the playground and headed out on the nearby trail.  With little signage to go by, we ran along the wooden boardwalk that dead ended at a small stream.  After getting turned around, we found a paved trail in the park and followed it along the perimeter of the park towards the aquatic center entrance.  We continued following the greenway signs, crossed the road before getting to the aquatic center main building, and finally found the Neuse River Trail after a few more right hand turns! Whew, we had a mile  (mostly uphill) under our belts already!   When you see the huge “traffic circle” feature in the trail, you know you’re there.  For future reference, we’ll park closer to the aquatic center if we need access to the greenway.

IMG_6589We turned right heading south onto the Neuse River Trail and we shortly came upon the 11.5 mile marker and a large bridge that crossed the Neuse River.  It had rained a lot in Raleigh over the weeks leading up to Memorial Day weekend, so the water levels were still pretty high and the river was flowing fast, which made for great toddler conversations.

There was quite a good bit of foot and bike traffic along the way so it was nice to see so many people using the greenway.  This portion of the greenway has a good variety of elevation – there are several flats parts mixed with some hilly parts.  We made several stops along the way for toddler nature potty stops and to admire the high water levels and nice houses across the river.  We even made it all the way south to where some good friends live across the river; even though we couldn’t see their house through the dense forest, our GPS showed where we were in comparison to their house so that was neat!  When looking back over the COR greenway map, we ran until just north of greenway parking #44 (2894 Abington Dr).

IMG_6611The run home felt much shorter with several less stops than the way out.  When we arrived back into Buffaloe Road Park, we followed signs to the athletic park instead of to the aquatic center.  With this option, we ran along the northern perimeter of the park and got to witness the massiveness of the baseball fields.  When we got back to our car, we were pooped! Ashley made a final pit stop in the restroom facilities near the closed playground and then we headed out for some well deserved lunch.  I look forward to taking the girls back to the park later this summer when the playground surface is finished.

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Thumbs up: views along the greenway, condition of the greenway, photo ops, having playground and running options in one spot (despite playground being closed)

Thumbs down: no mention of playground being closed on COR website, lack of signage to greenway from playground

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Lions Park

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Despite Lions Park being located in a transitional east Raleigh neighborhood, we found it safe, full of friendly people, and lots of fun!  Lions Park is located at 516 Dennis Ave in the east Raleigh Woodcrest neighborhood.  This park has several entrances, which provides easier access and parking to whichever activity you’re looking to try; and this park has a lot going on.  Besides the main playground area, there are four baseball fields, two full-size basketball courts, a dirt BMX track, a community center, eight tennis courts, and a large pavilion for rental.  While we didn’t have much time to capture the details about everything we did spend a lot of time on the playground.

The playground area at Lions Park is easiest to access from the Dennis Ave entrance that spills into a large parking lot area near the community center.  This park has two playground areas for the different age groups 2-5 and 5-12, which are both have a rubberized surface.  The 5-12 age group playground is one of the largest I’ve seen in Raleigh.  It has multiple levels of playing with several slides, climbing structures, monkey bars, tethered rope swings, and bucket chairs for spinning.  Ashley spent most of her time on this playground and even tried the curved ladder structure by herself for the first time (eeks)!  Even though she’s much younger than the recommended age for this playground I felt comfortable with her exploring on her own since there were very few high openings within the structure.  The big kid swing set and sandbox are also located nearby.

img_5324The 2-5 age group playground is a short walk from the bigger playground.  It has a fun climbing wall, a few slides, twisty toys, the dreaded butterfly shaped ladder which is too young for a 2-year old in my opinion, a seesaw, tot swings,  and bongos.

After a short jaunt on the tot playground we sat down for a picnic lunch.  Even though the playground areas are newer, the picnic spots and pavilion are showing their age (and a mossy roof).  Nonetheless, we found a sunny spot (it was January) in the moderately wooded pavilion area.  Adjacent to the pavilion are horseshoe pits, which had also seen better days.

Despite this park’s older age and its location, it has pockets of great features such as the playground, BMX track, and tennis courts. We even recently went to a birthday party here and it was super convenient to have the pavilion next to the playground.  I look forward to going back for a visit where we can scope out the BMX track, which should provide fun entertainment for Ashley and maybe get her excited to practice on her balance bike some more!

For more information about Lions Park, visit City of Raleigh website.

Thumbs up: playground areas, unique BMX track feature, spinning bucket seats, tot climbing wall, convenient benches scattered throughout playgrounds, wooded playground area would be nice for hotter weather

Thumbs down: condition of pavilion area

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Knightdale Station Park

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We are fortunate to have a great group of moms and kiddos through Stroller Strides of Midtown Raleigh to explore local parks with and a trip Knightdale Station Park last fall is no exception.  Knightdale Station Park is located at 810 North 1st Ave just outside 540 and south of US-64 business in Knightdale.

This park has a bit of everything – walking trails, large playground areas for kiddos under 2, ages 2-5 and ages 5-12, a dog park, and athletic fields.  We spent most of our time exploring the various playground areas, where all boast a farming/barn theme.  The playground area designed for ages 5-12 has a large play silo with a steep enclosed slide.  A spiral staircase is enclosed in the play silo, so if you have adventurous younger children, make sure they use extra caution.  Other than the play silo, this large playground has monkey bars, wide wheelchair-accessible ramps, smaller slides, and other climbing structures.  The nearby tot playground for ages 2-5 is a train with tunnels, slides and climbing structures.  It’s rather small for a tot playground, but the adjacent corral with bouncy horses and spinning cups provides some more activities for the young ones.

img_4530Ashley’s favorite play structure at this park was the play chicken coop designed for ages under 2.  She loved throwing mulch down the egg shoot for her friend to catch at the bottom.  This play area is covered and great for early walkers as kids can access it by a small ramp or short steps.

Scattered around the playground areas are benches, tot swings, regular swings, a large faux tire swing, mushroom stools, twirling structures, and sandbox with large tractor tire.  The different playground areas are joined by concrete sidewalk paths and covered with shredded bark.  A large pavilion with picnic tables and separate restroom building are also near the playground as is a walking/running trail.  Finally this park also has several athletic fields and an off-leash dog park with separate small and large dog areas.

For more information about this park and future plans visit the Town of Knightdale website.

Thumbs up: unique farming themed play areas, all ages incorporated into play areas, walking trails adjacent to playground

Thumbs down: climbing enclosed staircase in silo is a bit scary for little ones, young landscaping yields little shade

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Marsh Creek Park

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The day after Claire came home from the hospital, she visited her first park, Marsh Creek Park in east Raleigh.  Marsh Creek Park is located at 3050 N New Hope Rd and is bustling with a variety of activities.  This park is most famous for its outdoor skate park, which was very busy when we arrived.  I became more aware of this park after following Instagram user raleighstatic and his amazing black/white skate park photos.

When we visited the park, we spent most of our time in the back at the playground, which is fenced in!  The playground contains jungle gyms for both age groups 2-5 and 5-12; both of which are great because they aren’t high from the ground and don’t have any large openings.  Ashley quickly zoomed around the slides and ladders at the 2-5 age playground and spent most of her time on the 5-12 age playground where there are larger slides, more complicated ladders, and rings for swinging.  She is totally into gymnastic-like exercises right now, so the rings were a big hit for her as was playing chase with my sister.  The playground area is beautifully landscaped with different trees, bushes, flowers and hardscape and has several benches scattered throughout and a few picnic tables near the entrance.  There’s not much shade at the playground and the surface is a mixture of the cushiony rubber and wood chips with concrete paths throughout, so plan accordingly.  If you’re looking for a shaded picnic spot there are about 10 picnic tables located below the nearby community center.

After our time on the playground we headed out for a short walk up to the skate park in our new (to us) double Bob stroller!  On our way we passed an ice cream truck strategically parked near the large crowd of adults playing soccer.  After a few cold treats we were back on our way to the skate park area.

Other than watching my college roommates play hundreds of hours of Tony Hawk on the Playstation, I know NOTHING about skateboarding.  It is a pretty cool sport to watch even if most of the skateboarders just stand around watching each other.  This skate park has a street flow and bowl element and requires all boarders to wear safety pads and sign a waiver.  Unfortunately I couldn’t capture images quite like raleighstatic, but I did enjoy introducing a new spectator sport to Ashley.

Up from the skate park is a fenced-in inline hockey rink with goals and bleachers and a large shelter with restrooms.  We were all very impressed with the different activities available for the public to use at this park.  Even if you don’t have experience skateboarding, you can still be a wallflower and catch a good show from the sidelines.

Thumbs up: skate park, inline hockey rink, large playground areas, landscaping, shaded picnic areas below community center

Thumbs down: lack of swings in playground area

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