Capitol Area Greenway – Trail 5-2006: Buckeye Trail 2.5 Miles

Capitol Area Greenway – Trail 5-2006: Buckeye Trail 2.5 miles

Background:

For those visiting Raleigh or are new residents of Raleigh not be aware of the wonderful park system and the “Capitol Area Greenway.”

The “Capitol Area Greenway” is a project in process. Started in March 1974 by the city council of Raleigh it has a master plan to make sure that there is open space for residents throughout the city. It is being built one trail, park and community area at a time.

Today the city boasts more than 50 miles of trails connecting many of the 3000 acres of city park land. Over the next few years I plan to follow all of these trails and share my impressions.

After a good start with the master plan, the parks and trails were damaged badly in 1996 by Hurricane Fran. Although a lot of clearing and rebuilding had to occur the years immediately after the storm the city is well underway on its project to create links between the various greenways. Though many of the trails are not yet connected, those that are create wonderful off road access to many parts of the city, especially for bikers and runners.

Trail Overview:

Buckeye Trail runs from Raleigh Blvd east to Milburnie Road in two sections for a total trail length of 2.5 miles in one direction. (5 mile round trip)

Trail is paved for the entire distance.

Location: Start/End is at intersection of Crabtree Blvd and Raleigh Blvd

Parking is available on Crabtree Blvd in good sized greenway gravel parking lot.
Parking is available on the streets near the corner of Crabtree Blvd and Culpepper Lane.

Note: Crabtree Blvd runs between Capital Blvd and Raleigh Blvd and then dead ends at Raleigh Blvd. It then starts up again for a brief ways in the middle of the stream. This second portion of Crabtree can be reached from Capital Blvd; east onto Glascock St.; north onto Culpepper Lane which end at the intersection with Crabtree Blvd near the city park.

At the Milburnie Road end of the trail on street parking is the only option.

Buckeye Trail Report:

I started my tour of the Buckeye trail by taking a left on Capital Blvd (going south) onto Crabtree Blvd. Just a very short way on the right I pulled into the Park Systems parking lot. It is a large gravel lot with minimal signage. It has a post that points you in the direction of the greenway.

From the parking lot I crossed the street to be a bit in the shade. There is a gorgeous old sycamore tree that wears its bark like camouflage with blues, browns, grays, oranges and browns intermingled. Of course with all the just green trees around it, it stands out like a hunter in orange blaze in the center of a mall.

I followed Crabtree Blvd until it came to and end at the intersection of Raleigh Blvd. It is perhaps a tenth mile at most.

Across the street I could see the entry to Buckeye Trail surrounded by Crape Murtle trees in full blossom. There bunches of white and purple flowers reminds me of lilac trees up north. They lack the fragrances of those trees but the color show is quite attractive.

At the entry of the trail the greenway sign indicate that this trail is for hiking, biking and dog walking (on lease). Horses, motorized vehicles and guns are not permitted.

Immediately at the entrance is a park bench. This is a good sign if you have older walkers or very young walkers. They benches are of the common type with wooden seating on a metal frame. It is nice to see strong, clean, comfortable benches.

The trail ahead is clear and gently winding as it starts out by following the natural flow of the stream. I pass by a maple tree as I near the first sight of the stream. Today the stream is wide and flowing quickly as it sheds a recent rain.

The water is a red brown and has little white caps that show just how fast the current is. The banks are sandy and show signs of being gouged by recent floods.

This trail is really remarkable for an inner city trail. The wide Crabtree Creek on one side and the depth of the forest other make it seem more like a trail in a distant forest. The birds are busy making noises as they lead there lives unaware they live in the second largest city in North Carolina.

As the long flat trail meanders along the creek I see robins, cardinals, bluejays and yellow finches flittering through the trees. Other than the birds, the only other sounds are the gurgling of the water and the rustling of leaves as squirrels as the search the forest floor.

I look up at a giant oak tree towering over the trail. Climbing its heights is a huge vine that reminds me of the ones Tarzan used to swing through the jungles. The vine is easily three inches in diameter and climbs straight into the taller branches of the tree. Fortunately for me, I let my imagination climb to the heights of the tree rather than my wicked old self. My imagination has me climb the tree, attempt to swing across the creek and slip and fall into the fast flowing creek. Fortunately only my imagination got bruised. I continued along the trail.

I am now at the half mile marker. Here is another park bench. This is a good sign that the folks who built this stretch of the greenway were thinking about all the city residents.

The trail continues to hug the creek as it wanders first left then right in slow gentle turns. It is a smooth and easy trail for pretty much everyone. I come across a sewer line cap or cement tower. It is nice to see that as with many of the recreation facilities in Raleigh, that there is a shared use of the same space. I am always impressed with how well the city has used public lands for recreation, utilities and other public needs.

Here the forest is full of sycamore, hawthorn, oak (of several varieties), yellow poplar and sweet gum. It is amazing how many types and varieties of trees populate the forest here. A quarter mile of this trail could be a day’s science trip for just about any class.

I now come upon one of my favorites. Sweet succulent blackberries; actually they are blackberry bushes laden with pink and white berries that will soon be delicious blackberries. I don’t know that it would be wise to pick these as recent floods covered the bushes and who knows what was washed over them. But it is nice to see these familiar bushes growing here.

In a bend in the stream I come upon a picnic table. It is located in such a way that it provides and excellent view of the creek. It is wooden with a metal tubular frame and appears to be in very good to excellent condition.

The trail meanders onward flowing left and right as the creek shifts its flow. The woods here are tall and cool with the canopy of leaves limiting the sunlight in a gentle way. The trunks of some of the trees have huge diameters and soar into the sky reaching for the passing clouds. They let in enough light to keep a rich green forest floor full of new wannabe trees hoping to peek through the canopy some day.

Suddenly the trail splits at a sign indicating that this is a bike trail. Given the location of the sign it is not clear whether the trail to the left or the right is the bike trail.

The trail on the right ends about a tenth mile at the corner of Crabtree Blvd and Somerset Road. The trail on the left continues the journey. At this point I have traveled about 1.2 miles as near as I can tell.

There is another park bench near this intersection of the trail.

The left hand trail which is about the same distance comes out at the Lockwood Playground at 1200 Crabtree Blvd.

Here I found a couple of picnic tables, swings, slides and jungle bars to hang on. This is a great place to be if you should have small children. This is a playground and not a park so there are no facilities here.

Here ends the first half to the Buckeye trail and begins the second half. For those looking for a two or so mile walk/hike this is an excellent place to turn around. The trail from Raleigh Blvd to this point has been flat and comfortable making it great for older walkers and very young walkers.

Now the trail starts in a different mode. From here to the trails end is about 1.25 miles. This portion of the trail goes up and up and up. It goes away from any creek or stream. It is a beautiful wooded hike on a well paved asphalt trail. The first trail marker I saw here was the 1.5 mile marker as I climbed the steep hill that brings me in the direction of Milburnie Road.

Just beyond the trail marker was the first park bench. For those who need to stop this will definitely be a welcome site.

The woods are thick and green on both sides of the trail. The right side of the trail the woods rise upward a bit and to the left side the heavily treed forest falls away. For those who, like me, like the sense of being alone in the forest, far from the madness of the world, this is a place where one can feel that sense, at least for a moment or two.

The trail continues to rise as I pass by a small brick building surrounded by a chain link fence. It looks more like a little old school house than the city pumping station that it is. If it were not for the chain link fence it would be a nice looking building.

The trail continues upward and upward in its quest to take us over one of the many ridges that make up the northern half of the city. It continues to rise through the deciduous forest covered in rich green colors as I pass a �¾ mile marker. It is a bit confusing until I realize that the 1.5 mile marker must be from the Milburnie Road side.

Now I am going down and down and down. Quickly the trail leads down as it is easier to travel down than up. Soon I come upon the creek to my left. Here it is still flowing fast as it meanders along the trail.

At a two mile marker there is a park bench. At this point I am quite confused by the mile markers. A 1 �½ mile marker followed by a �¾ mile marker and then a 2 mile marker. It must have been a 1 �¾ mile marker with dirt covering the one mile part. My confusion was resolved. But wait, the other side of the marker says �½ mile. Maybe the other marker was placed so that only one side shows. You guest it, the marker which should be turned so that the distance on either side shows, is turned so the only side that shows is the �¾ side. What would life be without little mysteries for folks like me?

The trail meanders along moving quickly away from the creek into total forest. The forest here is lush and green. As I approach trails end, the trail pokes out into a small meadow on the right side, giving it a slightly different flavor. It reminds me of the woods near the apple orchards up north. Just a little bit of childhood memories.

The trail now follows a tiny stream that is flowing into the woods where it will meet the creek unseen by our eyes. At the true 2 �½ mile mark the trail ends abruptly on Milburnie Rd about 100 feet south of Shanta Rd. Though I guess you could park here, this is a fairly remote place to park.

One neat thing I noticed was that there is another huge colorful Sycamore at this end of the trail like the one at the beginning just across from the parking lot.

I turned around here and returned along the trail. The hike is uphill for the first �¾ mile and then down hill for the next �¾ mile. Then I was back at the playground. Along the way I saw many kinds of flowers, shrubs, trees and birds. I only notice on park bench on this half of the trail.

Returning from Lockwood Playground to Raleigh Blvd was very pleasant and easy trek. The trail is flat with benches or tables about every quarter mile or so. The spacing could use a little work but this is a very easy portion of the trail. The only caution here would be for those with small or curious children, the creek here flows very fast and the banks are (sand) very soft, children should stay on the trail and away from the banks.

The trail is 2.5 miles in one direction. It is about 1 �¼ miles to Lockwood Playground.

Recommendations:

Bikers: Excellent ride which can be extended by several miles by following the bike route signs at Lockwood Playground. Including the far end of the trail will add in two uphill and two downhill portions for the athletes.

Hikers: Very Good. Nice wooded hike on paved surface. Round trip is five miles through mostly deciduous forest.

Older Walkers: Very Good. Portion from Raleigh Blvd to Lockwood Playground is flat and has benches for resting about every quarter mile.

Very Young Walkers: Very Good. Portion from Raleigh Blvd to Lockwood Playground is flat and has benches for resting about every quarter mile. Birds and Dragonflies add interest.

Baby Strollers: Excellent on portion from Raleigh Blvd to Lockwood Playground. This is fine on portion to Milburne Rd if hills are okay.

Roller Skaters: Excellent on portion from Raleigh Blvd to Lockwood Playground.

Picnickers: One picnic table about �¾ mile mark and several at Lockwood Playground. No facilities.

Runners: Excellent flat and hills. One trip from parking lot and back provides five miles with about half on hills.

Birders: Not many open spots on the trail for viewing. The variety of birds may be a bit limited. Birds I saw included robins, cardinals, bluejays and finches.