The Triangle area of North Carolina is an awesome place to live. There are plenty of ways to play, tons of great food options, and awesome parks to visit. However, sometimes you still want to get away from it all. If you are looking for some quick day trips from Raleigh (and the Triangle) this is the place for you.
This edition focuses on State Parks. There are 41 State Parks in North Carolina and we recommend visiting all of them, you will learn a lot! There is not a State Park you could not visit in one day from Raleigh, but you might be in the car for hours upon hours! For instance, we have taken a day trip for Jockey’s Ridge but we were in the car for about 7 hours that day.
This list focuses on the 10 best State Parks to visit if you are taking a day trip from Raleigh. The farthest you should have to drive is a little over two hours if you use this list – so, very doable. Hope you have a blast going the adventure way on your day trips from Raleigh!
Medoc Mountain State Park
Medoc Mountain is an hour and fifteen minute drive northeast or Raleigh in Hollister. This is one of our favorite parks in all of the Piedmont area of North Carolina. Medoc Mountain is a great place for hikers of all skill levels – some of the trails are even paved so they are accessible to everyone. Pretty much every trail is great here, but we like to do the Summit Loop Trail which takes you to the old ridge line of Medoc Mountain. To get there, you will need to take the Stream Loop to Discovery Loop to Summit Loop. In all it is about 4.5 miles.
Near the visitor’s center you can check out the Air Awareness Trail. This is an awesome kids track trail with a ton of hands on activities. The adult have just as much fun when challenging the kids. When you are in the visitor’s center, stop in and check out the corn snake. If you are in there at the right time, you might even be able to hold it yourself. Medoc Mountain is near the historic town of Halifax, so check it out when you are there.
Hanging Rock State Park
Hanging Rock is one of the most popular parks in the whole state. This park is about two hours and fifteen minutes from Raleigh – so it is one of the longer drives on our list. There is a ton to do in this park so if you want to experience it all you will need to leave early and stay late. Of course, the Hanging Rock Trail is an absolute must do. This is a 2.6 mile trail up to the rock and back. This is a great place to eat lunch and enjoy the views. There are some steep spots and you need to be careful around the cliffs, but there is a ton of room up at the top.
If you took the Hanging Rock out of the State Park there would still be a park here because there are so many other things to do. Hanging Rock has a great set of waterfalls. These are not the biggest falls in the state, but they are some of the closest to Raleigh. Hidden Falls, Window Falls, and Upper Cascade Falls are our favorites. And don’t sleep on Wolf Rock and Cook’s Wall – those are great places to visit. If you are feeling super adventurous, see if you can do the five peak challenge – it is on our list to do soon.
Pilot Mountain State Park
Pilot Mountain is an awesome park to visit if you have a day to explore. Pilot Mountain is about a two hour drive from Raleigh to the west. It is one of the most famous landmarks in the state. Pilot Mountain is a great place to hike especially if you want some mountain landscapes but don’t have the time to go all the way there. The Jomeokee Trail is our favorite trail at the park. It is less than a mile, but it takes you to the base of Pilot Mountain and gives you some killer views. If you have more time and are a little more seasoned, start at the old visitor’s center and head up the Grindstone Trail.
This park has a brand new visitor’s center. We haven’t been yet but are excited to check it out soon. There are two main sections to this park. Most people only go to the mountain section, but there is a river section as well. Plenty of things to do on the water and they have an operating historical farm, a great place for kids and adults. If you are going to Pilot Mountain, check out nearby Mt. Airy.
Cliffs of the Neuse State Park
We love Cliffs of the Neuse. This park is about an hour and fifteen minutes southeast of Raleigh just outside of Goldsboro. This is one of the best parks to hike in the eastern part of the state. Our favorite trails are the Spanish Moss Trail and the Galax Trail. This park also has a really awesome lake to swim in. The water is really clear here. There is a small charge for day use. When you are there, obviously don’t miss the cliffs overlooking the Neuse River. There is not a ton of space here, but there are some pretty cool views.
Carvers Creek State Park
Carvers Creek State Park is a fun little park with some historical significance. This park is about an hour south of Raleigh in Fayetteville. There are two access points to this park – the Sandhills Access and the Long Valley Farm Access. Long Valley is the main access is home to the Rockefeller House, the one time vacation home of James Stillman Rockefeller. The home is being restored and one day will be open to the public. You can walk the grounds and the nearby pond. This is a good spot for an east 1-2 mile hike.
The Sandhills has about 10 miles of hiking in total. This is a great place to explore the Sandhills area of North Carolina. This is one of the few places you can find the federally endangered red cockaded woodpecker. It is so cool to see these birds flying around, they are beautiful!
Morrow Mountain State Park
Morrow Mountain is just under two hours to the east or Raleigh in Albermarle. This park literally has something for everyone. That is why it ranked so high in our State Park rankings. You can rent kayaks and hit the Yadkin River Trail. They have bald eagles towards the dam on the river. Very cool to go searching for them.
This park also has a museum that explains the unique geology and history of this area. There once were American Indian tribes living in this area and you might even be able to find some artifacts while you are there. There are a ton of trails here as well. Fall Mountain and Sugarloaf Mountain Trails are really great. If you don’t have a ton of time, check out the Three Rivers Trail which gives you some good water views. Whether you hike or drive, make sure you get up to Morrow Mountain Overlook. The views from up there are super rad. Definitely check that out, especially now that there is a new deck up there.
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve
Weymouth Woods is another park about an hour south of Raleigh in Southern Pines. It has many trails for you to check out the long leaf pine forest that cover this part of the state. One thing we enjoyed about this park were the amount of birds we could check out. It is an ideal place for this, especially woodpeckers. If you are a beginning hiker this place is perfect because it offers plenty of flat, easy trails for you to build up your strength on. We recommend heading here in the fall because of all of the colorful ground cover.
Raven Rock State Park
Raven Rock is an awesome park 40 minutes southwest of Raleigh near Lillington. There are a lot of really great places to visit at the park. If you go you have to hike down to Raven Rock. This is a 2.6 mile trail that takes you down to the banks of the Cape Fear River under the Raven Rock. This is an awesome rock formation that is great to climb all over. Once you get back on the trail, you can head to an observation area that gives you a great view of the river below. It is almost like you are in the mountains (almost).
Speaking about the mountains, the best hikes don’t involve the Raven Rock. Campbell Creek Loop Trail and Lanier Falls Trail are both incredible. Some of the best hikes near Raleigh. They have incredible vegetation and wonderful water features along the river and creeks.
There is a great visitors center here with a bunch of hummingbird feeders outside. On our last trip we saw about 20 of them flying around. It was so cool! This park gets super crowded. It is always a good idea to show up to this one early.
Mayo River State Park
Mayo River was one of the parks that made us fall in love the the North Carolina State Park system. This park is an hour and 45 minutes northwest of Raleigh. We visited this park on our way for a VERY LONG day trip to southwest Virginia. We were just going to stop in real quick, check it out, and burn up the road. When we visited the visitor’s center we found out that there was a separate section of the park with a waterfall. We had to check it out and were so glad we did!
This waterfall is called Fall Creek Falls and it is one of the coolest waterfalls we have been to. Not a tall one, but a fun wide one you can climb all over. We went on a day that nobody else was there so it was awesome! This is a great place to enjoy a picnic and play in the river.
Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area
Occoneechee is a State Park site that took time to grow on us. This park is only 45 minutes to the west of Raleigh. The first time we went there all we did was take the short trail to the overlook and we were gone. The overlook was great but we didn’t check the rest of the park out. The next time we went we did the whole Occoneechee Mountain Loop Trail and it was wonderful. There is a great quarry that you can explore, a winding river, and plenty of elevation change. This feels like mountain hiking real close to Raleigh. If you are this way, make sure you check out the nearby Occoneechee Speedway, an old dirt race track from another era.
There you go! 10 great State Park day trips from Raleigh! We hope that this has been helpful. How many of these have you been to? Have you done any of these in a day? Let us know how your trip went in the comments!
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