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Hi, everyone--I am curious what the most interconnected area in the Triangle would be in terms of greenways. If I wanted to be able to hop onto a greenway and ride on a bicycle for miles, as well as branch out onto other greenways with little to no time spent biking on a road, where is the best starting point?
Hi, everyone--I am curious what the most interconnected area in the Triangle would be in terms of greenways. If I wanted to be able to hop onto a greenway and ride on a bicycle for miles, as well as branch out onto other greenways with little to no time spent biking on a road, where is the best starting point?
The Old Reedy Creek Trail Head, in Northeast Cary, is a great hub for serious bikers, runners, and hikers. It connects Cary's greenway system (which goes all the way West to ATT -which takes you S to Apex or N all the way into DT Durham) with Raleigh's greenway system (via Umstead and NCMA). It has new facilities (air station and restroom) and a large parking lot. The lot was absolutely packed yesterday -tons of bikers (both mtn and road). Lots of runners -I see UNC's and NCSU's teams (XC and/or track) there fairly regularly. Such recreational opportunities are one of the reasons we moved to this particular area of the Triangle -vs some "isolated" new-build neighborhood farther out. Running and biking in the neighborhood gets old quick.
The Old Reedy Creek Trail Head, in Northeast Cary, is a great hub for serious bikers, runners, and hikers. It connects Cary's greenway system (which goes all the way West to ATT -which takes you S to Apex or N all the way into DT Durham) with Raleigh's greenway system (via Umstead and NCMA
Second this recommendation, and also add it has access to a decent network of MTB trails at Lake Crabtree, and also connects to Morrisville and to near the southern end of RTP by the Crabtree Creek, Hatcher Creek, Indian Creek, and Shiloh Greenways.
As ncrunner alludes, there is a significant regionwide interconnected network consisting of many trails through at least Durham, Cary, Morrisville, Apex, and Raleigh. As for where is the best spot? The above recommendation is a good one, but it's open to interpretation. Look for a spot at the intersection of at least two long greenways on that interconnected network (not all greenways are a part of it- some are just isolated 1 or 2 mile segments.)
Are you asking for somewhere to drive to, park, and then ride, or are you asking in terms of somewhere to live that offers a big variety of greenway trails?
The nice thing about the greenways, is that they are many are generally mostly connected at this point, so you can start anywhere along and just ride. It’s even possible to do various distance loops in some cases.
Some of my favorite greenway access points, if you’re driving and parking, would be:
Anderson Point - east of Raleigh. The midpoint of the long Neuse Trail, and intersection with the Crabtree Creek trail. The Walnut Creek Greenway intersects 2-3 miles south.
White Oak Park - in Cary. Good place to park and ride the White Oak to the American Tobacco, or go the other way to Bond Park
Bond Park - Cary. the White Oak and Black Creek both terminate here.
NC Museum of Art - can head on the Reedy Creek toward Umstead (a short section is bike lane, although you can ride the sidewalk across the street if you like), or head up the hill and across the Beltline on the pedestrian bridge and then either the House Creek down to Crabtree Mall (and the Crabtree Creek Trail).
The Reedy Creek Trailhead - others mentioned this. Can head into Umstead (continuing to NCMA in Raleigh), head on Black Creek towards Bond Lake, or head around Lake Crabtree and then over to Morrisville on the Hatcher.
Cedar Fork District Park - near 54/Aviation intersection. A different access point for the Hatcher. Can head down towards Davis Dr or over to Umstead.
Lake Johnson - Raleigh. at the moment, with some work being done, best to park on Lake Dam Rd. Can head out on the Walnut Creek greenway all the way to the Neuse Trail. Can also connect to the Rocky Branch which heads back to NC State (with just a bit of road, could make a decent loop).
Thank you so much. I was thinking of coming to the Triangle for a weekend sometime in a more post-COVID world and wondered what a good "hub" would be for exploring greenways in the area with the family. We enjoy biking, but some variety would be nice. Initially I had thought Durham might be a hub, but when I looked at a map, I was surprised to see that Cary seemed to be more of a central location. You all have given me some great starting places. Thank you.
Here is my map of what I consider the ”Primary” network of interconnected greenways. From any point on any of these trails, you can reach any other point on any of these trails without much on-road (or on-sidewalk) riding. The major gaps that I am aware of are highlighted in red. I have ridden most of these trails myself at some point or other.
All in all, you can see that there are plenty of trails, making this a fairly accessible amenity, at a pretty diverse set of price points. But there are also lots of neighborhoods that are nowhere near this network. If you tell a RE agent you're looking for homes near a major greenway, they'll be familiar with the big ones: American Tobacco, Neuse River, Crabtree Creek, but beyond that they probably won't have full knowledge of which greenways do and don't connect into this network - so if this is important to you, you'll have to do some research yourself.
All of these trails are either paved or surfaced with hard-packed screened granite, which is fine for any type of bike and any type of tire except the thinnest and slickest of racing bike tire.
There are also some street-side bike paths connected to this network but not shown on this map. They are along roads like Davis Drive, Western Boulevard, Centennial Parkway, throughout much of the Research Triangle Park area, and perhaps others - that are reasonable for cycling, but not quite as stress-free as a greenway.
Many of these trails follow creeks and rivers, and in some cases are built in the flood plain - so some of them can be temporarily impassable for a short time after a heavy rainstorm.
Last edited by orulz; 01-11-2021 at 08:49 AM..
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