Sometimes you are looking for an adventure but you don’t have the time or money to go too far. Sure it is great to head to far and away places, but that isn’t always feasible. That is why it is good to know your local area. There are tons of adventures waiting right outside your door. We live in Wake County right in the middle of North Carolina near Raleigh. There is a ton to do in this county and the options are growing by the month. A great way to get out in Wake County is to check out all of the Wake County Parks!

There is a lot of diversity in the ten different Wake County Parks. If you like to hike, play on the water, play on a field, or anything else outdoors you can probably find it at one of the Wake County Parks. We wanted to put together a quick list of the County Parks so you can see what they have to offer and which ones might be a good spot for you to check out on your next local adventure! We’ve included our favorites parts and what to do with kids. Let’s dive in!

Historic Yates Mill County Park

Yates Mill is located off of Lake Wheeler Road in south Raleigh. It sits on the site of the last operating gristmill in Wake County. Yates Mill is a beautiful historic structure and they have done a great job with restoring it to its former glory. The mill is open for guided tours from March to November at a cost. You can walk around the grounds for free, but to go in for the tour you have to pay. Right around the mill there is a beautiful man-made waterfall with plenty of places to walk around and explore. There are also some beautiful boardwalks and overlooks of the pond.

Yates Mill offers three miles of hiking trails in and around the pond. These are great for any level of hiker. They are short, shady, and scenic (for the area). There is fishing from the main bridge spanning the park.

Yates Mill has an incredible visitor’s center that is fun and interactive. You can learn all about how mills work in a hands on way. They have done a great job putting together the different exhibits and make it fun. There are beautiful educational gardens throughout with plenty of walkways and places to sit and enjoy the beauty.

Favorite Thing We Did Here: Hanging out around the rocks by the waterfall near the mill.

Green Hills County Park

This park was easily the most surprising for us out of all of them. It is located off of Durant Road in Raleigh. When we pulled into the park we thought that our GPS was messed up because we saw signs for a dump. We quickly realized that is what we were going to, a closed landfill. This park sits on an at capacity landfill and it is beautiful.

Green Hills is the highest elevation in all of Wake County – they might have cheated a little, but they have that distinction. It is cool to see the area repurposed into something useful for the whole community.

The best thing to do there is to take the short hike up to the top of the hill. It is a nice, wide trail and it doesn’t take you too long. You are rewarded with 360 degree views for miles and miles. It is a pretty great place to sit and relax on one of the many benches or tables. Quick note, there isn’t any shade on this trail or up top…so a hot day would be pretty tough at this part of the park.

In addition to the main hill, there are play areas, hiking trails (you can walk all the way around the hill), a mountain bike skills course (something that we hadn’t seen before), and other normal park amenities.

Favorite Thing We Did Here: Enjoying the views from the top of the old landfill.

Robertson Millpond Preserve

Robertson Millpond is located in Wendell off of Robertson Park Road. This is a special park because it is the only Bald Cypress black water swamp in Central North Carolina. We have been to both Dismal Swamp and Merchants Millpond State Parks in Northeast North Carolina and this park makes you feel like you are transported there.

The main thing to do is to kayak or canoe at this park. They have an incredible 1.15 mile kayak trail through the swamp. There is a great little boat launch ramp at the main parking area, but it can get crowded on busy days.

In addition to being on the water, there is a short hiking trail that allows you to take in this unique landscape. Another great thing to do is fish at Robertson Millpond. They have an incredible fishing pier right by the boat launch area. A perfect place to relax in the shade.

Favorite Thing We Did Here: Fishing off of the pier in the black water (though we just got kayaks so this will change we think).

Harris Lake County Park

Harris Lake might be the best all-around Wake County Park because of all it has to offer. There is boating, hiking, play areas, fishing, mountain bike trails, educational gardens, frisbee golf, and so much more. This park is located in New Hill in Southwest Wake County. It is right next to the Shearon Harris power plant, you can see it from some of the hiking trails. It is massive, over 680-acres.

This is one of our favorite places to go frisbee golfing. There are some really great holes and many are right by the water. We have made plenty of splashes through the years in that lake. This is also one of our favorite places to go hiking if we need to stay local but still want to get into the woods.

There are plenty of fishing locations here as well. You can fish on the lake or in one of the ponds in the park. Every time we go to this park we see plenty of wildlife. We even saw an all-white deer here one time, it was awesome!

Favorite Thing We Did Here: Frisbee Golf!

American Tobacco Trail

The American Tobacco Trail is an old railway line that was converted to a recreational trail in 2001. This trail is one of the most popular trails in the triangle area of North Carolina. The trail has sections in Wake (6.5 miles), Chatham (4.7 miles), and Durham (11.4 miles) counties. It goes from New Hill to downtown Durham, over 22 miles. You can hike, bike, or ride horses down this trail there are some exhibits and gardens along the way, but bathrooms and water are few and far between, so plan accordingly. There are also a ton of trails that connect to the ATT. A lot of local towns have access that you wouldn’t normally think.

Favorite Thing We Did Here: Hiking from New Hill to Bond Park on the ATT and the White Oak Creek Trail – about 10 miles, that’s a lot for us!

Historic Oak View County Park

Oak View is located in Raleigh off of Poole Road. This is just a fantastic park that is incredibly unique. The park is on a 19th century farmstead that tells the story of North Carolina agriculture. They have plenty of programs and events that are immersive and hands on along with a great visitors center. You can go into most of the historic buildings on property to tour them.

This park has a couple of very short walking trails but you really come here to take your time walking around the grounds. There are two ponds on site where you can go fishing. This is a mini-working farm, so they still grow some crops and have some animals. It is a beautiful place to relax on a nice day.

This is a great park for families with little kids because of the animals and room to run…but also a great place for a couple to go on a quiet picnic or walk together. It’s just really beautiful here and one we will continue coming back to.

Favorite Thing We Did Here: Hanging out with the goats, they were great!

Blue Jay Point County Park

Blue Jay Point is a park within a park. It is located on Falls Lake which is a State Park. Blue Jay Point is part of the shoreline that is run by the county. Blue Jay Point has a ton of trails (part of the Mountains-To-Sea Trail goes through this park), a lot of the regular park features like ballfields and playgrounds, and a great visitors center and surrounding gardens. They even have a zip-line course you can tackle. This is not run by the county and is an additional fee.

Our favorite part of our visit was hiking out to Blue Jay Point. You can get there directly by taking the Blue Jay Point Trail from one of the many parking lots. We decided though to take part of the Mountains-To-Sea Trail and connect to the Blue Jay Point Trail from it. Blue Jay Point is a pretty relaxing peninsula sticking out in Falls Lake. This place can get pretty crowded though, so you might need some patience on busy days finding a good spot.

Favorite Thing We Did Here: Hiking on the Mountains-To-Sea Trail.

Lake Crabtree County Park

Lake Crabtree is in Morrisville by RDU Airport. It is a nice little lake park with a lot of the typical lake park amenities. Crabtree has a fantastic fishing pier. It is pretty large and spacious. Boating is big here as well and you can usually spot a couple of sailboats.

There are plenty of trails at this park, both for mountain biking and foot traffic. The mountain bike trails get pretty packed on nice days. This park has a mountain bike skills course as well. The Lake Trail is one of the larger ones you will find at a Wake County Park at 6 miles. Crabtree has a good educational hiking trail with a bunch of really great info on the local plant life.

Favorite Thing We Did Here: Walking the Old Beech Nature Trail.

Turnipseed Nature Preserve

Turnipseed is the newest Wake County Park. It is in Wendell right near the Johnston County line. The main feature of this park is the rock outcrops that are scattered around the trail. They are in the woods along the trails and are pretty cool. There is about 3 miles of hiking trails here.

The centerpiece of the trail though is the bridge on the Boulder Trail. It is a pretty cool structure. Take a couple of minutes and walk the little path that goes near the base of the trail near the Gin Branch Creek. You can see some great rock formations and a really peaceful stream.

Favorite Thing We Did Here: Walking the path along Gin Branch Creek.

Crowder County Park

Of all of the parks Crowder County Park is the most like a local town park. It is one of the smaller parks but it still has plenty to offer. The highlight of the park is the trail that goes throughout the park. There is an inner and outer loop of the trail, one around the pond and the other around the perimeter of the park. Both are fun and offer different views. If you take the longer route you will go through educational gardens and a bird feeder park. This park is about to triple in size of the next couple of years so we are excited to see what the expansion will bring.

Favorite Thing We Did Here: Hiked on the Cooper’s Hawk Trail and hanging out around the bridge.

As you can see, the Wake County Parks are pretty diverse and have something for everyone. We really enjoyed being able to adventure to them during our time when we couldn’t get too far away from home. Have you been to any of these parks? Which ones are your favorites? What are some places that you live near that you go to for a dose of adventure?

PS! If you are looking for more parks in explore in the Wake County/Raleigh area check out our guide to Jordan Lake State Recreation Area or our rankings of every NC State Park! We also have some fun ideas to “travel” when you can’t leave the house – a great way to keep the kids engaged when traveling isn’t happening!

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