Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve

What it is:  While the weather has been pretty crummy lately, there have been a few days of good weather starting to sneak in here and there.  On one of those spring-like days, we headed over to Cary to Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve.  One of my friends had said that it was a great place to take kids and we always love getting out into nature so it sounded like the perfect outing.

It was about a half an hour drive down to that part of Cary so we were hoping the trip would be worth it.  We arrived and stopped by Steven's Nature Center located right next to the parking lot.  They had several exhibits about nature that were worth looking at but they didn't hold my boys' attention for long-they wanted to get out and explore.  On our way out to the hiking trails we saw several neat gardens that we all stopped to look at.  One had lots of handmade stepping stones and the other was a recycling garden where everything was made out of recycled items.  My boys thought both were very interesting (and as a result my oldest now wants to plant a flower in his rain boots).

After we checked out the gardens we headed out on the trails.  There were trails leading in two different directions from the visitors center.  We headed left, but the great part was that all of the trails were fairly short and kid-friendly.  We ended up checking out two of the trails including the longest which was only 1.2 miles  (The others were .8 and .9 miles respectively).  There were some uphills and downhills and several sets of stairs to get to some overlooks, but my three and five year olds did fine with the hiking.  It was really beautiful, and I can't wait to go back in the spring or summer when the trees are green.  There were some nice overlooks where you could see a river down at the bottom of a large ravine.  Everyone had a great time!

What we liked:  We loved how kid-friendly the hiking was.  It's nice to find short manageable hikes for the little ones.  Plus, having Steven's Nature Center there is a great plus.  That gives the kiddos something else to explore.  There are also a ton of programs for kids and families from those where you drop the kids off to ones where parents and kids attend together.

What we would change:  It's located on the far side of Cary from Durham so it took a bit of time to get there, but it wasn't that long of a drive and it was worth it.  They didn't have any picnic tables or places to eat, but there was a great solution to that problem right next door-Ritter Park, but more on that in my next post, so stay tuned!

Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.hemlockbluffs.org/hem-hbnp.html#Nature_Education

Address: 2616 Kildaire Farm Rd, Cary, 27518

Hours: 10am-5pm Monday-Saturday, 1-5pm Sunday

Photos:

(some of the stairs on the trail)

(one of the overlooks)

(a view off through the trees)

(Steven's Nature Center)