Category Archives: Outdoors

See Yates Mill in operation (recurring event)

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This is a frequently recurring event, and is a good idea for a nice day in the park. Mill Heritage and Local History tours (the link will take you to the current events list) are from 2pm – 3pm, and you can extend that as you wish with hiking and picnicking in this beautiful park. It is about 20 10 minutes South of downtown at 4620 Lake Wheeler Road, Raleigh, NC 27603.

This is one of our favorite parks, and you’ll read more about it.

This nice shot of Yates Mill is by Suzie T and licensed under CC-BY. She has a lot of nice photos, check out here photostream on Flickr.

A family outing at Blue Jay Point (2/4/2012)

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Blue Jay Point County Park is probably a well-kept secret among Falls of Neuse suburbanites and other folks on the outskirts of North Raleigh. To be honest, this is one of the few parks in the Triangle I know only from driving by. A good reason to visit this Saturday is that the park is celebrating its 20st anniversary with a big party.

According to the website, “This event is free, no preregistration is required, and all ages are welcome.” What more could you want? Well, maybe that it is a bit closer. It is about a 40 minute drive to the North of downtown. If you’re in North Raleigh, good, if you’re in South Raleigh or Cary, you may want to think twice. The Park is on 3200 Pleasant Union Church Road, which is off Six Forks.

Best of Playgrounds: Chavis Park

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The playground at Chavis Park gets 4 out of 5 stars. 4 because an upgrade/remodel is planned for the near future, and we need room for improvement, right?

Chavis Playground

My two-year-old particularly likes the suspension bridge on the play set and the large Jeep-shaped spring toy.

I like Chavis because it lies in a nice setting; the green way and a creek are nearby, and of course the pool in the summer. There are also picnic shelter and plenty of park benches. It has a quite interesting playset (pictured) with multiple slides and a second one for the little kids. Spring toys, diggers, swings, see-saws – it is all there.

The ground cover is sand, and I’m still undecided in the sand vs. rubber debate. Rubber is cleaner, but sand may be more fun.

Chavis is easy to get to from downtown; walk east on Martin / Davie / Cabarrus / Lenoir as you like, and then south on Chavis Way until you reach the playground. There is supposedly a nice antique carousel in the round building, but it is currently closed for renovation and should re-open later this year in a new building.

Fred Fletcher Park

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Fred Fletcher Park just might be one of those places that you will vaguely remember driving by, once somebody explains where it is. (Going from downtown to Five Points on Glenwood, it is on the left.)

If this is the case, the park is worth checking out up-close. Fletcher Park has just about everything you could want packed in one small-ish park. Some outdoor art, a large field, some hills and bushes to play hide-and-seek, swings, benches, open spaces and hidden nooks.

If you walk from downtown, follow Boylan to the North until it ends at the park entrance. If you drive, look for parking on the north side along Washington Street.

Note, this is not directly a kids’ destination like Pullen or Chavis with structured playsets and concession stand. But for running around and exploring, it is wonderful.