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Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary The Triangle Area
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Old 01-08-2007, 05:22 AM
 
Location: Cary, NC
43,020 posts, read 76,529,724 times
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You are wise, socrates.
It is all relative to where you are standing.
"The elephant is like a rope," said the blind man holding the tail.
"Oh, no. The elephant is like a tree!" insisted the blind man holding a leg.

And they both were right!


Quote:
Originally Posted by socrates View Post
one person hit it right on the head. raleigh is on the border of the coastal plain and the piedmont regions. west raleigh is very hilly towards apex cary and durham while east raleigh towards knightdale is flat.
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Old 01-08-2007, 08:31 AM
 
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It's best to describe the area, rather than to offer an opinion, so check this out for a general description of the Piedmont Region:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedmont_%28United_States%29
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Old 01-08-2007, 09:05 AM
 
Location: Cary, NC
43,020 posts, read 76,529,724 times
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Good job! That's what I was getting at.
And there is a link for the "Fall line" on the Wikipedia page, deining the Fall line as the demarcation between the Piedmont and the Coastal Plain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_line

And Raleigh is identified as sitting on the fall line.



Quote:
Originally Posted by ncsu99 View Post
It's best to describe the area, rather than to offer an opinion, so check this out for a general description of the Piedmont Region:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedmont_%28United_States%29
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Old 01-08-2007, 09:26 AM
 
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I hate to say this, but to me the topography around Raleigh is boring. I've lived all over the country and prefer being near wilderness, the ocean or the mountains. So to me this place is just plain boring. I hate to be a party pooper. I live here for the southern feel and the morals of the area - not for the scenery, although the oak trees are marvelous - and the area isn't as built up as many other cities of this size so it's slower paced - which I like.

Here's the deal: South and east of Raleigh it's more flat because you've moved into the coastal plain. These areas tend not to get as much snow and they're a tad warmer so if you go out as far as Wilson, springtime flowers and trees actually bloom earlier in the season. There are more opens fields with smaller ponds so you see more open sky - which to me is nice.

If you go north and west of Raleigh it is somewhat hillier with tons of trees, especially pines. Normally I love pines - Ponderosa pines for example. But the pine trees in Raleigh are horribly depressing on a rainy day. And during ice storms they break like pretzels and then you have to pay tree companies to cut them down (unless you want to risk your own life doing the job yourself). I am not exaggerating, by the way. Since Raleigh sits on the fall line (line between coastal plain and piedmont) - north Raleigh gets more heavily hit by ice or snow storms than south Raleigh does.

If you go west as far as Hillsborough or north as far as Roxboro the landscape gets more interesting if you like hills and different flora. You start seeing sumac and different types of pines that are prettier. 501 up to Roxboro is downright beautiful the farther north you get. The drive along St. Marys Road out of Hillsborough is lovely too.

Someone in an earlier post mentioned Adams Mountain in Raleigh. It's a pretty hill with beautiful forests - so well forested in fact that you can barely see any views from the top. But the wealthy neighborhood encompassing Adams Mountain is gated - so you have to find a time to sneak through when it is occasionally open - in order to get in and "enjoy" the mountain as much as one can with neighbors wondering who the stranger is inside the gate. )

There are some special state parks within reasonable driving distance of Raleigh that are visually interesting: Raven's Rock in the coastal plain south of Raleigh. Pilot Mountain north of Winston Salem. If you like hiking trails the Mountain-to-Sea trail runs through the Falls Lake area north of town. You'll find mountain flora in spots along the trail - mountain laurel, for example.

Hope this helps some. This is an interesting thread with lots of good comments from everyone!

Last edited by Skipstone; 01-08-2007 at 09:33 AM.. Reason: add material
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Old 01-08-2007, 10:07 AM
 
325 posts, read 1,404,814 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJaquish View Post
Good job! That's what I was getting at.
And there is a link for the "Fall line" on the Wikipedia page, deining the Fall line as the demarcation between the Piedmont and the Coastal Plain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_line

And Raleigh is identified as sitting on the fall line.
I've heard Raleigh identified with both, and I think either assumption would be correct. Through Wake County, the fall line is mainly in the eastern part of the county. Coastal Plain soils are rarely seen north and west of a line roughly from Spring Hope, through the Zebulon/Wendell area, to about the Wake/Johnston County line along US 70. So, if we had been around a million years ago, the beach would have been between Garner and Clayton!

Another interesting tidbit... My grandparents had a new 250' deep well drilled at their house in northeastern Wilson County back in the 80's when I was 10 or 12 years old. I remember seeing all kinds of seashells and what looked like beach sand coming up out of the hole. That was really amazing to me as a kid. I've been facinated with the geography, geology, and soils of North Carolina ever since.
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Old 01-08-2007, 10:31 AM
 
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Wow, that tidbit about the seashells coming up in the soil during the well digging is fascinating!!!

If you visit the Natural History Museum in Raleigh it's pretty clear there are a lot of hidden "jewels of interest" around the state.
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Old 01-08-2007, 10:46 AM
 
325 posts, read 1,404,814 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skipstone View Post
Wow, that tidbit about the seashells coming up in the soil during the well digging is fascinating!!!

If you visit the Natural History Museum in Raleigh it's pretty clear there are a lot of hidden "jewels of interest" around the state.
It was especially amazing to me due to the fact their house was about 120 miles, as the crow flies, from the ocean. But since, I've learned that most of Eastern North Carolina was 100-300 feet below the surface of the ocean before the last ice age. And yes, the Natural History Museum is a must see if you want to learn about North Carolina.
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Old 01-08-2007, 11:06 AM
 
5,644 posts, read 13,175,045 times
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From a runner's perspective I find the Triangle area to be pretty hilly....

I lived in Massachusetts and Maine before moving here and I always had at least 1 running route that was pretty flat....

Here that seems to be impossible, not that I really mind, but it is a noticeable difference, all my running routes have pretty significant hills and as a frequent racer, I find almost all races have hills to deal with as well.
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Old 01-08-2007, 11:45 AM
 
Location: Blue Ridge Mtns of NC
5,660 posts, read 26,917,023 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ncsu99 View Post
It was especially amazing to me due to the fact their house was about 120 miles, as the crow flies, from the ocean. But since, I've learned that most of Eastern North Carolina was 100-300 feet below the surface of the ocean before the last ice age. And yes, the Natural History Museum is a must see if you want to learn about North Carolina.
Yep, the Wake County area was once beachfront property.

http://www.ncatlasrevisited.org/LandRegions/Images/landfg3.gif (broken link)
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