Black Creek Greenway

What it is: A few weeks ago we headed to Cary to have a little run and we found a great spot that is great for running and kid entertaining as well-the best of all worlds.  So, we headed over to North Cary Park to start our trip on the Black Creek Greenway  The nice thing about starting and finishing at a park is you can wear out your kiddos at the park before you put them in the stroller for your walk or jog, and you can give them a chance to get out and play when you get done with your jog.  The playground is great too with play structures, sandbox, and cool slides built into a hill. 

So, we wore out our munchkins at the playground and then resident Stir Crazy dad Scott and I piled our kids in the double strollers, followed the signs for the greenway, and started jogging.  We headed over a bridge to reach the greenway after a few minutes heading through the park.  Then, when we hit the trail we took a left to start our journey.

The great thing about this jog is that about a mile into the jog you have a beautiful little observation deck over Lake Crabtree.  You can let the kids get out and stretch while you take a sip of water and watch the lake, ducks, cars that you can see across the lake on Aviation Parkway, and planes occasionally flying over the lake from the airport.

Then, you can either turn around and head the mile back to the park or continue on the trail another mile around the lake until it dead ends into a road.  It's either a nice four mile or two mile trip.  Be warned there are a couple hills-one after the scenic overlook and another pretty substantial one to get back into North Cary Park.

What we liked:  We loved having a nice wide trail to run on with great stops to make it an entertaining trip for both parents and kiddos.

What we would change: It's too bad that this great trail is in Cary and not Durham, but it's definitely on the close side of Cary and not too bad of a drive at all.  Plus, the trail was wooded and secluded so you might want to travel with someone else even though it looked perfectly safe.

Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.townofcary.org/Departments/Parks__Recreation___Cultural_Resources/Parks_and_Greenways/Greenways/Black_Creek_Greenway.htm

Address: (The starting point at North Cary Park) 1100 Norwell Blvd, Cary

Photos: 

(A typical section of the trail)