By Emily Buehler, Weaver Street Market Website Coordinator
I’m a fan of the Staycation. What’s not to love? Roll out of bed late, do minimal packing, and explore something new within an hour’s drive (or bike ride). As Labor Day weekend approaches, Chapelboro reports that the holiday weekend travel will hit a seven-year high, with 880,000 people hitting the road. (Oh, and hotel rates will be way up, too.) It sounds like the perfect weekend to pack a picnic lunch and hit a local park.
In the past month, I’ve visited three new parks. Here’s the rundown of what I’ve seen. There’s also a full list of Orange County parks on their website, here.
Blackwood Farm Park
This is a new park located on 86 between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough. It’s on an old farm, and you can walk among the farmhouse and buildings (barn, corn crib, milking shed, etc) or out across the fields to the pond. There’s also a well-marked shady trail through the woods. There are plenty of picnic tables and nice views, and when we went, no one else was there. I thought it was delightful, but a friend with kids said that kids will be bored by the lack of a playground. There’s one planned for the future, as well as a bunch of other stuff. I kind of like the park the way it is now! It’s currently only open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. (I called, and they’re not opening for Labor Day.)
Pullen Park
This showed up in a list of Best Things To Do in Raleigh. Yes, it’s in Raleigh, but it’s worth the drive: not only is there a train that loops through the park, but a ride only costs $1. (And they don’t seem to mind if you’re a grownup!) We went on a sunny Saturday; we waited only a minute in line for train tickets, and about ten minutes to get on the train. The train ride gives a good overview of the park: there’s a pond with paddleboats ($6), plenty of greenspace and shade, and a rather elaborate playground for the littler ones that has a squishy rubbery floor that’s fun to walk on. We also admired the carousel, which has cats and pigs and BUNNIES in addition to horses, and also costs $1.
Much as we want you to get your picnic lunch at our store, I have to give a shoutout to Pullen Place, the cafe in the park. They have a seasonal menu, buy from local farms, and offer $5 kid meals with side dishes like carrot sticks and popcorn. It was easy to find a picnic table in the shade; even on a crowded day, the park feels spacious. The only trouble we had was that the parking lot was full, but a staff member was passing out maps to a walkable NC State parking deck. (We got a spot from someone who was leaving.) I had such a good time that I forgot to take more pictures.
Little River Regional Park
This park is way out in Rougemont. It was super peaceful and had a lot to offer: there’s a playground, a pollinator garden, a paved walk as well as hiking trails and mountain biking trails, and several picnic tables in the shade of the forest. There were flyers for several upcoming events like a Fall Nature Walk (September 7 at 9 AM) and hummingbird spotting for kids (September 14 at 10 am). (Event info seems to be missing on the website, but is posted on the visitHillsboroughNC.com calendar.) We hiked the Ridge Trail, which looped through forest to the river and back and took us two hours with a break for snacks. (There’s a bench at the far end.) We particularly enjoyed the “Planet Walk” posted along the hiking trail, although we never did find Pluto.