Loblolly Trail a rough trail even on a good day

Raleigh Greenway System – Report 1: The Trail 6.0 miles

Background:

This is for those visiting Raleigh or 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.

Loblolly Trail – Report 1

The start point on this trail is down behind the RBC Center just off Edwards Mill Road at E. Steven Stroud Way. (At Edwards Mill Rd. 1400)

There is a small parking lot at that point.

The other end of the Trail begins at Umstead State Park and is deep in the woods as far as being in Raleigh.

If starting from the center of the trail there is parking at Schenck Memorial Forest one half mile up Reedy Creek Road from where the Loblolly Trail crosses Reedy Creek Road and Trail.

The Trail:

For my journey on the trail I only walked the portion from Reedy Creek Road to the RBC Center. I tried unsuccessfully to locate the RBC end of the trail. The Parks and Recreation map does not mention Steven Stroud Way.

It was just as good, as the portion of the trail near the RBC Center was mostly under water. It was possible to pass over it, but if I had started on that end I would have thought they were kidding that this was a trail.

If there is a week or too of really dry weather the RBC end may be okay to start at. If it has rained in the last day or so, it may be okay if you don’t mind getting a bit wet. I definitely suggest that you wear waterproof hiking shoes or boots.

After looking in vain for the start point of the trail, I drove out to Reedy Creek Road and located the trail where it crosses the road. There is no real parking near this point so I checked out both potential parking areas. Going a half mile west, there is some on road parking near the State Park entrance. It was quite congested and it is nearly a mile back to the Loblolly Trail.

I went back past the trail going east toward Raleigh. One half mile past the trail there is a Schenck Forest road that goes south. There is adequate parking on the side of the road for a number of vehicles. This seemed a good spot to park.

If you’re interested in going down other forest trails, there is an entry to the forest about a half mile up this road.

I was interested particularly in the Loblolly Trail so I went back down Reedy Creek Trail which follows the right hand (north) side of Reedy Creek Road.

I had my camera with me (when don’t I) and I had a telephoto lens on it. Lately I have been getting pictures of birds along various Greenway trails. I had planned to do that on this trail. Except for a Robin and a bird I have yet to identify, I didn’t see many birds.

It wasn’t that there were no birds, there were plenty from the sounds they made, but being that this is forest; they were all but invisible.

Though it wasn’t a good day for taking bird pictures, it was an excellent day for getting a few horse pictures. It seems that I was passing by at the time the horses with new foals were out and about.

To get to Loblolly Trail I had to follow Reedy Creek Trail past the North Carolina State University Equine Educational Unit of the Reedy Creek Road Field Laboratory in Raleigh.

This sixteen stall facility (I did not go in and count the stalls) is partially funded by the Cooperative Extension Service. The North Carolina Agricultural Research Service of the state provides support in the form of in-kind services. The facility follows the trail/road for most of the half mile.

I got some good pictures of the mares and foals; this more than made up for the lack of birds. There was one pair of Canadian Geese which sat pretentiously like two guards on either side of a gate the horses had to pass through. The horses didn’t move in their direction so it wasn’t possible to see how seriously they were taking their jobs.

In addition to the mares and foals, there were a number of adult horses that were frolicking in another pasture. One got quite excited when a couple of young women, probably agricultural students, walked some new horses out. It raised its tail and pranced first toward the new arrivals and then romped off in the other direction.

When I am enjoying what is happening in the world around me it is sometimes difficult to remember the mission. To locate the entry point of the Loblolly Trail was today’s adventure.

Remembering my mission,I left the horses behind and followed Reedy Creek Trail for the next tenth of mile or two. Although the Loblolly Trail dips off the trail to the north, I missed this entry way as I was watching the south side of the street for the entry toward RBC. The north portion of the trail is not all that well marked. It can be identified by trees with a crude dull white paint and stairs going down into the forest.

The south entry from here is a little easier to see with its green Parks and Recreation sign. The sign is tiny, yet the pale green is very distinct for those who may have traveled around Raleigh’s trails.

There is a little break in the fence that keeps one on the Reedy Creek Trail, permitting one to cross the street.

Finally I was officially on the Loblolly Trail.

The entry into the trail is up a small hill and immediately into the woods. This is a very real forest trail. I used to love these trails as a kid and I still think they are fantastic.

It was here that I first started hearing birds. There were lots of birds in many different voices; looking for mates or trying to settle on a new home. Though the birds were definitely there, it was impossible to get a shot of them.

It wasn’t that I didn’t see any of them. Rather I would see them in flight through the trees and then ducking into tangle growth so dense that they were hidden again.

The first part of the trail was through pine forest. There is only dense undergrowth along the stream that follows the west side of the trail. The forest has a good canopy so that there is only a little undergrowth along the first part of the trail.

The trail is suitable for walking and hiking. Dogs are technically not allowed, though I saw a few on leash. Given the numerous hoof prints along the trail, there appears to be a good deer population within these woods.

About a mile along the trail it bisects another trail. I will need to follow this some other time. This day I was bent on getting to the start of the trail from its middle.

Where the trails bisect, for one to follow the Loblolly Trail means to focus on the whitish marks on the trees. The other trail appears to be marked in red. The forest floor changes at this point. Until this point the trail is dirt and rocks with an occasional root to make things interesting. It also tends to go up in little rises and back down.

All of a sudden the trail is flat and primarily made of fine sand. It is like a forest that has overgrown a beach. The trees are thinner along this part of the trail and a primarily deciduous. (They are ones which have leaves that fall off)

Most of the rest of the trail is like this with an occassional pine tree mixed in. The openness may have accounted for the lack of birds along this part of the trail.

Along the first two parts of the trail I crossed two bridges and passed by a third that has been swept out of place, probably during a flood.

At some point on the last third of the trail I came upon what appears to be the end of the official forest. There is a greeting sign there to those entering the forest. The stream was still off to my right though it was far enough away that I could not see the water.

There is a road (Wade Avenue) which parallels the trail which generates a lot of noise.

The trail here is covered with tall grasses and is quite moist. There are large pools of water off to the left, with a few encroaching on the trail.

This portion of the trail appears to have had little maintenance. There has been, to the credit of Parks and Recreation, a green distance marker each quarter mile; the last ones have aged so that they are literally blank.

It is quite swampy along the trail as I approach the first underpass. Just as I arrive at it I am doubtful that it is for real. There in front of me is a double culvert with water on both sides.

There is no bridge to step over the stream, just a few rocks that are a bit unsteady. Of course it could have been me that was unsteady.

Just then I saw a bird and decided I would get at least something out of the trip. Just as I took the shot, I heard someone’s voice.

Tim (I hope I remember this right) from Garner was also trying to find the end of the trail. We got into a short conversation about Joe Miller who wrote an article or two about this trail. I got the feeling he knows Joe, though it could in passing. I told him about my search for the entry and my surprise that after Joe’s article hit the N&O that the Parks and Recreation folks didn’t do anything about making the trail easier to find. Both of us agreed that Joe Miller has done fine work with his articles.

It was clear that he was going to give the culvert a shot, so I wasn’t going to let my confusion/concern get in the way.

The culvert had water in it about an inch deep in most places. It also has lights, some of which flicker on and off, which is a good clue that this is the trail.

It is a long, long way under Wade Avenue. I was so busy watching for semi dry spots that I didn’t take the time to try out the echo that such a long tunnel has to offer.

The other end of the culvert shows how whomever built it hoped it would work. There is a barrier on the other side to keep the stream out, except during flood conditions. The problem comes in that the side of the culvert toward the road bank is dirt. We could see the water steeping out of the bank and being trapped in the walking side of the culvert by its own design. I had an uncle who was and engineer (bridges and dams) who would have had a good chuckle to see this design.

The trail from here follows the stream to another tunnel a relatively short distance away. Here the tunnel and the culverts are separated with the tunnel much higher in elevation. This tunnel was quite dry and leads under Edwards Mill Road. There is a short patch of tar the leads to the end/start of the trail.

This is a very nice trail for the day hiker. The forest that the trail goes through is closed to the public after dark. There is a nice little parking lot at the beginning of the trail, but the road it is on doesn’t show up on any maps. (Yahoo/Google/Parks & Rec/etc)

The Parks and Recreation people have a large sign at the entrance, however if you don’t know which street the entrance is on (it is a private road) then it is very hard to locate.

The first tunnel is well designed and dry. The second tunnel on the trek was clearly some bureaucrat’s brilliant idea to same money. If they had sealed the road bank so that water flowed into the stream, it would have been a brilliant idea. A drain could still be added to bank so that seepage after rains goes to the stream.

The trail brings one through many little micro environments which may be of interest to different folks. For the distance hiker/walker the trail connects all the way to a trail in Cary via Umstead Park. For those interested in birds, the different woods along the trail attract different birds. There are insects and reptiles in the woods and along the stream that may interest others.

As a former scoutmaster, this trail looks like an excellent trail for the basic hikes that scouts must go on for their ranks and merit badges.

I definitely like this trail, though I would like to see the politicians give the parks folks enough resources to maintain the trail head.

As a forest trail the white wash markers are just fine and the mile markers are a bonus. (Except for the blank ones of course)

Because there is a break in the trail at Reedy Creek Road, there is an opportunity to either go toward Raleigh to see the horses; or to go toward Umstead and overlook the water fowl.