North Wake Landfill District Park

Celebrating a Preschool Graduate & Top 6 Parks for Picnics

May 25, 2018 by Kris Montgomery

And, just like that, I’m watching my youngest, Claire, have her final preschool days at The School of Grace. While I know we’ll have a full summer together, her preschool graduation means her kindergarten milestone is just around the corner in August, and it’ll be a big changing of the guard moment for me.

I’ve had the lucky opportunity to stay home with the girls over the past 7 years! Having both girls in elementary school next year means I’m losing more time with them. While I’m excited to have more time to myself, I’ll miss staying so connected. And, these final few days signify a lot of “lasts” with just her.

Last days walking her into preschool and watching her “sign in”
Last days getting a big squeeze as I pass her onto her teacher
Last days she hangs with me after school eating a snack, helping or running amok in the classroom
Last days her and I sing to the Trolls soundtrack or Avett Bros with the windows down after we drop big sis at school
Last impromptu mid-day park visits
Last days she runs up to me for hugs on the preschool playground
Last days I get to spend a solid four hours of uninterrupted together time being her Helping Parent

While I’m hopeful she’ll mature a little this summer, I wrestle with the desire to let her be her. As much as she brings the ~~potty words~~ energy to the party, she also gives the best hugs ever and loves to have picnics. Though we’ve been butting heads a lot lately (probably our way of processing the upcoming changes) I’m so proud of this spunky, comedic, crazy, intensely loving chic!

Top 6 Parks for Picnics with Preschoolers

Like I mentioned above Claire loves picnics. She loves to throw them for her lovies at home, bring them to friends’ houses or to a park. Here are our 6 favorite local parks to have a picnic:

Roanoke Park (Five Points, 1500 Cherokee Dr) – features a large open grassy area adjacent to a smaller age playground area with lots of benches; open field has several trees along the perimeter perfect for climbing and a shady picnic; I’m a huge fan of ordering take out from Nofo and picnicking here
North Wake Landfill Park (North Raleigh, 9300 Deponie Dr) – enjoy a picnic under the large pavilion next to the playground area; if you want to take in amazing 360-degree views of Wake County, hike the short but steep trail to the top of the hill
Lassiter Mill Historic Park (ITB, intersection of Lassiter Mill Rd & Lassiter Circle) – throw a blanket down on the sandy beach near Crabtree Creek, provided the water levels aren’t too high; then, skip some rocks in the water together or wade out into the water
Mordecai Mini Park (ITB, 1122 N Blount St) – features lots of shady spots on the mulch or at the picnic tables; great fenced-in playground for kids of all ages with slides, swings and climbing areas; walk to Escazu for amazing hot chocolate or ice cream push-pops afterwards
Dorothea Dix Park (ITB, multiple access points) – has a mix of picnic spots with views of downtown Raleigh, tree groves, and open grassy areas; our favorite picnic spot is near the Big Field (101 Blair Dr) under the trees along the perimeter; the girls love to ride their bikes, barrel roll down the hills, or kick the ball around
Anderson Point Park (east Raleigh, 20 Anderson Point Dr) – follow the paved trail around the park for several picnic options; enjoy a picnic while swinging on the bench swings overlooking the park; sit on the stone wall or grassy spots at the amphitheater; walk up the spiral path to another scenic overlook and sit on the wooden benches while enjoying the view; one of our favorite spots to enjoy a picnic is in the large grassy spots near the playground area

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Biking To & Around North Wake Landfill District Park

October 14, 2016 by Kris Montgomery

If you can’t tell by the themes of some of my latest blog posts, biking has been our family’s new passion. Having a bike hitch, bike trailer and at least one child biking on her own really opens up the family bike outings to beyond the driveway or cul-de-sac. Even though Bill is usually the one to strap the bikes onto the hitch and gather all the gear, I’ve made it a point to learn how to do it on my own in hopes that I could take the girls out by myself. Feeling rather confident about strapping all the bikes onto the hitch, remembering all the gear and snacks, I took the girls for a bike ride on Abbotts Creek Trail one summer morning in August.

For this trip, we parked at our tried and true parking lot at 10888 Bedfordtown Dr in the Bedford neighborhood. After biking down the access path we turned right on the Neuse River Trail. We then turned right onto the beginning of Abbotts Creek Trail. We biked past the blue heron habitat and over a large wooden walkway before coming to Falls River Ave. There wasn’t any obvious directional signs for how to stay on the greenway, but remember my past time on this trail, we turned left on the sidewalk of Falls River Ave. After mostly walking our bikes up the hill, we then made another left to stay on Abbotts Creek Trail, which continues to be more hilly than the first portion of the trail. Ashley walked her bike up several of the hills, but made up for it on the downhill portions of the trail. After about 1/2 mile of riding we turned left into the entrance of the North Wake Landfill District Park and biked/walked up the steep trails to the playground area where the girls ran around and climbed like monkeys for over an hour.

The bike ride back to the car was successful and even a bit adorable as my stop-and-smell-the-flowers daughter took advantage of light greenway traffic with her simultaneous bike ride swaying and singing. Despite the hot weather, the girls made the trip so much fun and were so patient with me as I carefully installed the bike equipment back onto the car.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when we headed back to the landfill park (9300 Deponie Dr, just off Durant Rd) with our bikes, but this time we drove in and parked at the playground and rode our bikes around the road surrounding the big hill. The road around the hill has been updated from a two-lane car road to a two-lane road with one dedicated bike/pedestrian lane and a one-way car lane. The road is about 1 1/2 miles long and a short median separates the bike/pedestrian lane from the car lane and has several pedestrian crossing areas.

We biked to the bottom of the trail that leads to the top of the landfill, parked our bikes and walked to the top. I’m the only one in our family who has ever been to the top of the landfill, so I was excited to share the views with everyone. The little ones took turns exclaiming their discomfort for walking up the hill, but it’s such a short walk (less than 1/4 mile) that they pushed through it.

Even though it was a cloudy morning, we could still see some downtown Raleigh buildings. The beautiful blue sky poked through, which gave great contrast to the super lush grass on top of the mountain. The girls loved being up so high and enjoyed playing photographer with my new big camera. We had the top of the hill to ourselves that morning, making it a really fun family outing!

With the girls being a bit older now, we really were able to utilize this park for all its assets – greenway access, advanced climbing features on playground, and large open spaces. I look forward to bringing them back when they’re much older to explore the mountain bike skills course. It’s hard to imagine this place was once a fully functioning landfill.

Thumbs up: park located along the greenway, great playground areas with variety of features, separated two-lane road around landfill hill, clean and fully functioning restrooms

Thumbs down: poor signage along Abbotts Creek Trail at Falls River Ave

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Top of the Hill Trail @ North Wake Landfill District Park

August 22, 2014 by Kris Montgomery

A few weeks ago, I woke up before sunrise and headed downtown with just a coffee and my camera in hand. I have a lot of photos of parks and greenways throughout the city, but not many personal photos of downtown Raleigh. It was a muggy Sunday morning, so downtown Raleigh had a faint Bourbon Street-like smell with evidence of a super fun Saturday night. I’ve always had a lot of respect for real photographers, but after this personal quest to capture photos to print for our house I have so much more appreciation for the pros who can really nail down the fine details of light, exposure, camera angle, etc. It was fun, but exhausting hopping around downtown from Boylan Bridge, near the Shimmer Wall, on McDowell St looking North into downtown Raleigh, and on Fayetteville St.

After about an hour of exploring and taking photos of downtown Raleigh, I headed back to North Raleigh to capture photos from one of the highest places of elevation in Raleigh – Top of the Hill trail in North Wake Landfill District Park. I’ve visited this park before, mostly for the kids to play on the playground, so it was nice to explore a park solo. After entering the park, which is under construction, I parked in the small parking lot and made a short .1 mile walk up the gravel trail. The 360-degree views from the top are amazing! Despite a muggy morning, I could still see several downtown Raleigh buildings (thanks to the bright red Redhat sign), neighborhoods and water towers in the distance, and trees for miles! It was so comforting to see how green Wake County still is!

Other than great views from the top, there are several picnic tables, benches, and a bike rack. Even though my downtown Raleigh pictures didn’t turn out as well as I would’ve liked, the whole experience certainly fueled my desire to practice and learn more about photography.

More Resources:

previous post about North Wake Landfill District Park
Park brochure

Thumbs up: beautiful views, quiet mornings Thumbs down: lack of signage directing you to the trail inside the park

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North Wake Landfill District Park

May 13, 2014 by Kris Montgomery

A playground at the landfill…say what?! Yes, the North Wake landfill closed in 2008 and local residents worked with the county to repurpose the closed landfill into a park which now features paved trails, mountain biking trails, a large playground area, pavilion, and access to Abbotts Creek Trail (part of Neuse River Greenway). North Wake Landfill District Park is located at 9300 Deponie Drive off Durant Rd in north Raleigh. When you first turn off from Durant Rd, it’ll feel like the landfill is still open because you have to wind through some of the old parts of the dump, but follow the signs for the park.

We spent most of our time exploring the playground area and paved trails that access the nearby greenway. While the playground area has many unique features, I strongly disliked the layout where it is adjacent to a steep hill that my adventurous 3-year old decided to conquer at great speeds, despite strict instruction NOT to do so. So, after recovering from a near heart attack when she sprinted down the steep hill (and received a short timeout) we had a nice time exploring the play areas.

The playground has two areas – one for ages 2-5 and one for ages 5-12. In my opinion this park is definitely more of a “big kid” park. The younger playground area has several climbing structures that are more appropriate for an older and more confident 2-year old. It also has a few slides, two tot swings, and a music feature but it’s a taller playground with little room for playing on.

The bigger kid playground is any young climber’s dream. There are huge spider web ropes that connect to the playground along with a sideways rock wall. The playground also has several monkey bars, slides, twisty ladders, climbing stepping stones and more!

Both playground areas are covered in a thick wood chip surface and are adjacent to several picnic tables, the public restrooms and water fountains. Also nearby is the large Sycamore pavilion with seating for up to 100, according to the Wake County website.

Descend along the paved trail from the playground to reach access to the western side of Abbotts Creek Trail. Inside the park there are also several mountain biking trails, a mountain biking skills area, and paved walking trails. I’d like to come back and walk or bike the short Top of the Hill trail, which takes you 469ft above sea level for great views of the surrounding area. There is little shade at this park, so plan accordingly!

For more information about this park, visit the Wake County Parks website. I found the park brochure with map to be very helpful.

Thumbs up: repurposing a landfill into a useable recreation space, variety of climbing activities for older kids, proximity and plethora of picnic areas

Thumbs down: steep hill near playground area, lack of park map inside park (didn’t know about most of the walking or bike trails until going online after getting home)

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Abbotts Creek Trail

February 13, 2014 by Kris Montgomery

It might be snowmaggedon part 2 in Raleigh right now, but months ago it was a beautifully warm day for a run in North Raleigh along Abbotts Creek Trail. Abbotts Creek Trail is 2.9 miles and connects Simms Branch Trail with the Neuse River Trail. We parked on-street near the intersection of Falls River Ave and Ashmead Ln. Abbotts Creek Trail is connected by the sidewalk near where we parked so after some walking back and forth, we got our bearings and headed north on Falls River Ave where we shortly caught up with Abbotts Creek Trail. Again, I’d love some directional signage throughout the greenways.

Abbotts Creek Trail is a wide, flat, and paved trail that runs between the Bedford at Falls River subdivision to the north and Abbotts Creek to the south. It nicely carves a path through a moderately wooded forest (great for shadiness in the hot NC summer). Along our run we passed several bikers and joggers, crossed multiple bridges, and explored the blue heron habitat. While we didn’t see any blue herons, we did see evidence of their nests, which were easy to identify with help from the information guides. Near the habitat are several benches, great for resting while doing some bird watching.

When we reached the end of Abbotts Creek Trail we turned left north onto the Neuse River Trail for a bit before turning around. While on the Upper Neuse River Trail we passed the 2 3/4 mile mark and were impressed with the information guides about the floodplains and benches along the way. Our out and back run was a total of 3.2 miles and I look forward to getting back up here again to explore the southern half of Abbotts Creek Trail, which I think leads to the North Wake Landfill District Park.