Hix Recreation Park is the perfect spot to hop over to from the local bakery with kids in tow…read more There's a ton of playground equipment to choose from. The nearby Hix Complex has these amenities: - Lit Multi-Use Field - Fields are opened to the public from dawn to dusk (except when in use for scheduled programming) - Gymnasium - one(1) regulation basketball/volleyball court with bleachers; rentals permitted; seating for 400. - Multipurpose Room - Tennis Courts - two lit regulation courts - Outdoor Basketball Court - Skate Park (adjacent to the basketball court) - Playground - children's playground and shelter; reservations for small groups (less than 30) and school groups available; a small fee applies for shelter rental. - Fenced-In Dog Park - Public Restroom (located in the playground area)

This fabulous park is "inclusive" which means that it's available for children who are abled and…read morechallenged! Lots of ramps throughout for those who are playing in the park in wheelchairs or who have trouble walking. Awesome. Lots of climbing frames and slides and fun things to do, all of it in bright primary colors. The park is in excellent condition with lots of shade. The park is in a small depression area which means that it's really easy for parents to keep an eye on their kids and harder for the kids to wander off. [Review 2423 of 2024 - 3879 in North Carolina - 23436 overall]

Public pool with nice play area large deck with chairs covered tables and concessions. Registration…read moreis online and allows nonresidents of Wake Forest. Sessions are for 3 hrs and limited to a total of 200 people. At least 2 lifeguards always on duty. A nice way to spend a lazy hot day.

Love this Park!!! So beautiful and unspoiled!! Nature's prescription for weary souls!! The rangers…read moreand staff on hand were so friendly and welcoming! We did the hike on the Big Oak Trail and found Sasquatch! So we took a pic with him and collected our keychains at the Visitor Center!! Great day to do a quick morning hike on our way to Wilde Manor!! So scenic and peaceful!! It will calm your spirits and relax your mind! Highly recommend this park!!

Recommend this state park. The pictures you see here are C 32. It's right on the water. If you want…read moreto see the sunset get a camping site on the other side from this view you see the sunrise it's close to the restrooms and firewood. just a word to the wise when you're asleep at night and you hear things scrambling around outside it's probably only a squirrel or raccoon. Put your food up, but it's unavoidable. Don't try to convince yourself that it is a bear.

Tired of staying inside on a beautiful October day, we did a quick search for nature trails and De…read moreHart botanical gardens sounded like a good fit to bring 3 generations and one fur ball to commune with nature. Located off 401 in Louisburg, there is free parking and a little gazebo to sign up at. A bit weird as no human mans the gazebo. We chose the waterfall trail and it was a little less than a mile there and back. Quite easy to navigate and nicely shaded and woodsy throughout. Will definitely come back to try the other trails. Glad we found this hidden gem!

I've lived in Raleigh for over 20 years and only recently discovered these delightful gardens just…read morea short drive away. There were two separate areas, the Lake Trail and the Waterfall Trail. The Waterfall Trail was more of a true trail, winding through the woods. The Lake Trail primarily looped around the lake. It would have been nice to have distance markers on the sign. There is a port a potty at the trailhead.

I have been wanting to go to Fantasy Lake since last year and I finally got to go…read more We reserved a 2 hour slot and got there 25mins before our start time to get changed and settled. The obstacle course is really fun for both kids and adults. The slides were my favorite part. They also have scuba diving on the end side of the lake. The only negative I will call out is that they don't have a water fountain or a filling station. I get that they allow outside food and drinks but for an outdoor water park, having a water fountain/filling station is a bare minimum.

A couple of staff members were unnecessarily rude to me, my girlfriend, and our child during our…read morevisit. At one point, a blonde female staff member approached my girlfriend in a very confrontational manner while we were simply saying goodbye to family members on the dock without wearing life jackets. We understood the life-jacket policy, but the way the situation was handled was disrespectful and could have been communicated much more professionally. Later, as we were leaving, we initially walked up one side of the ramp. We had already washed the sand off our feet and changed, so we did not want to walk back through the sand, get dirty again, and have to wait in line to rinse off a second time. We walked back down so we could leave through the other side. A young blonde male staff member stopped us simply to tell us that we could not be on the dock without life jackets, and his tone was extremely rude. I explained that we were aware of the rules and were only trying to leave through the other side because we had already cleaned the sand off and did not want to go back through the rinse line. Instead of simply acknowledging that and allowing us to leave, he continued to speak to me and my family in a disrespectful and unprofessional manner. What made the situation even more frustrating was that two older women were standing at the end of the same dock without life jackets, and neither staff member addressed them. That inconsistency made us feel singled out and raised concerns about whether the rules were being enforced equally for all guests. This business needs to take a serious look at its staffing and customer-service expectations. Some employees appeared to lack the communication skills necessary to interact appropriately with customers. We also encountered staff members who were not welcoming upon arrival, appeared disengaged in their responsibilities, and created the impression that certain guests or demographics were being treated differently than others. I am not normally someone who leaves negative reviews for businesses, but this was one of the most disappointing staff experiences I have encountered. Families should be able to visit, follow the rules, and still be treated with basic courtesy and respect. Based on our experience, I would not recommend bringing my family back.

Husband loves this place for fishing and it's always clean and well maintained. One of the diamonds…read morein the rough located in Oxford

Loved Lake Devin. While visiting my mom in the area, I decided to bring an early dinner and enjoy…read moreit lakeside. This is the perfect little quiet place to enjoy nature, and soak up the sun locally. It's a little difficult to find the entrance. Oxford is very rural and there is a lot of empty land. Look for the Lake Devin sign. Parking is available on the gravel providing easy access for those with mobility challenges. This was perfect for mom. We sat under the sheltered picnic area which kept us cool from the sun. There were families fishing for catfish on the docks and the weather was perfect. I've found a sweet little escape on sunny days.

This has become my go-to running spot while in NC for work…read more The entrance into the park is gated and is typically not open during the early hours that I arrive so I park in the lot just outside the gate, which has a quick easy access to the Neuse River Greenway Trail (left) and Crabtree Creek Greenway Trail (right). What I love is you get two very different running paths. The Neuse River Greenway is flat and pretty open. The Crabtree Creek Greenway has some minor elevation but some really cool bridges to go over (including a winding one). The park, itself, has its own running paths. There are bathrooms, water fountains, picnic areas and a big playground. Lots of covered space. From the outside parking lot, you'll hike over the bridge over the freeway into the park (about .20 miles). The bathrooms have a coded door lock that I haven't figured out yet. There is some type of house within the park as well, and I'm not sure what it's about. If you want to find the first really cool bridge, you'll go past the house and keep staying straight on the trail and not veering left or right. Also, the area between the house and the bathrooms yields some pretty cool breezes. I've noticed that temps get cooler from the adjacent field when running through there. There are mile markers on the Crabtree Creek Greenway Trail. You'll hit your first hill at about 1.15 miles from the parking lot outside the gate. Perfect place for long runs, interval workouts or bike rides. Very scenic!

Love this location! It has tons of parking and is a great path along the greenway. I run here with…read moremy running group as well as bike here with my partner. Definitely a great spot if you live close. You can literally run or bike for miles in either direction so it's perfect if you're training for a race.

Awesome park! Visited this past weekend with the main attraction being the sunflowers ! I haven't…read moreseen a field of sunflowers this big since living in South Dakota. Some were dead, but many were still living. Although there was significant rain this week, many parts of the fields were sandy and dry, there is a ramp like at the beach for wheelchairs and strollers. Also saw one of the hammock areas, a dog park and a troll ! I was seriously impressed at the size and scale of this park, and could easily spend an entire day exploring and enjoying, or bringing a lunch spread. Would definitely like to find and see the other trolls (heard there are 5 in total), spend some more time relaxing in hammock alley! Hope to return in the future!

Other than the renovation of certain park areas, this place was great. We did so much walking,…read moreespecially when you walked to 4 of the 5 trolls residing within the park fences (we saw one at the start of the loop in our car). We enjoyed the hammocks set between two trees - and there were many of them. The trolls were fun. They each had names, and a QR code to read their stories. Other visitors offered pieces to the puzzle. One even visited Charlotte, NC, where I believed she talked about the grandmother, but it's a tree instead of a troll. Anyway, good strolls, lots of sun, and it was fun watching the dogs at the dog park. Plan on a couple of ours in search for the trolls. Or, do that, and picnic under the trees or pavilions. There are shuttles so you can park in one area, and then visit another.

Located in Virginia, near the NC border, this park encompasses a 50,000 acre lake known as John H…read moreKerr reservoir. They have about 200 campsites, some with water and electric hookups. Playground areas and clean restrooms and showers. You can also just visit for the day for $5. Per carload. Camp sites cost $20 per day w/o hookups or $26 with. A multitude of activities including swimming in lake, fishing, boating, hiking etc. Most of the campsites I saw overlook the lake and family friendly. No alcohol permitted and they do patrol on occasion. We were visiting campers so the cost for us was $4. The lake is huge and looked clean and was nice to cool off. Most campsites have some shade, but not all. Dog friendly as long as leashed and designated areas for them to swim as well.

Short camping trip to this hidden gem with the family (about 4 hours). This is our third time here…read moreand has camped in multiple sites but this site is definitely my favorite. Private beach front. Quite location. This time of the year not buggy. Unfortunately, the leaves haven't turned yet. There's local store about a mile or two from the site where you can purchase firewood, gas and whatever else you may have forgotten to pack. Across the street is a new Mexican place before that it was a pizza place - hopefully they stay open till our next visit. We tend to meal prep when we camp. Overall, an amazing camping experience and it is the closest you can get to water with a full electrical (50 amp) and water hookup. Till next time!!

We enjoyed visiting this playground. The Toddler playground has three slides and is the perfect…read moresize for the little ones. It's partially shaded by the nearby trees. There's no benches but parents can sit on the concrete brick wall. The bigger playground is a short walk away. It has two big slides and a few little ones. It's perfect for all ages. There is open green space pretty close by. There are a few benches and even picnic tables around the playground area. However, there is almost no shade in the immediate area. There is an indoor bathroom facility near the big playground. They also have conveniently located trash cans. Parking is mostly along the road and a few spaces near the toddler playground.

We stayed at a dog-friendly AirBnB over Thanksgiving and found this nearby dog park. The parking…read morelot was a little difficult to find as the ground was covered in leaves, but we figured it out. This was one of the most fun and nostalgic dog parks I've ever been to - the entire dog park has obstacles and materials made from old McDonald's playgrounds, like from the 80s and early 90s. It was a blast from the past and very fun to identify which items I remembered. The pups both loved the park - there were tennis balls everywhere and it was surprisingly clean.