I know a lot of you really love nature and want to know about those areas of Raleigh where you can enjoy the outdoors. So today we are going to explore our largest park in Wake County, Umstead Park. we’re going to discover a shocking but beautiful surprise buried deep in the forest and discover how it got there. We’re going to visit with some friends who built their home so they could walk out their back door and into Umstead park. And yes, we’ll also show you some of the neighborhoods and surrounding areas that have easy access to this oasis in the city. Let’s Go!
The Umstead area is this area right here surrounding Umstead Park that kind of joins the NW side of Raleigh and the NE side of Cary. You can see how huge the park is. It is 5600 acres, that’s almost 9 square miles. The park can be enjoyed from it’s over 20 miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails. There are three lakes to explore and you can rent canoes in season. There are picnic areas and shelters, campgrounds with tent sites, and even cabin sites for large groups. It is an amazing place right in the middle of the Triangle.
This is where we are going today. Affectionately referred to by locals as The Chain saw log. It’s in the northeastern side of the park, right here along the Ebenezer Church Road corridor. There are a bunch of different ways you can get to the chainsaw log depending on if you’re looking for a long bike ride (it’s about 12 miles from the Museum of Art) or a short walk with young kids or older people. We’re going to take the most direct route today, about a 3/4 mile walk from the Sycamore parking area so about a 1.5 mile round trip. We’ll enter the park from the Crabtree entrance off Route 70. But, we’re going to skip furniture row on 70 and take Ebenezer Church road instead. I think it’s one of the prettiest drives in this part of Raleigh. There are a bunch of really beautiful neighborhoods over here with easy access to the park. You can also sometimes find homes on larger parcels of land in this area. But as the city grows it is getting more challenging to find them. d
If you wanted to live on the Raleigh side of Umstead you might look in neighborhoods like Bridgeton Park, Stoneridge, Richland Estates or The Hamptons at Umstead.
The Cary side of Umstead is where SAS has their campus. This is where the Umstead resort and Spa is located and you can tell lots of outdoorsy people live here because Bass Pro Shops is right over here. If you wanted to be on the Cary side of Umstead you would be looking at neighborhoods like Wessex, Harrison Place, Bexley and Silver Cliff. There are all kinds of price points in this area.
