anyone familiar with this place and if you take Harrison Avenue (go by SAS) out to it, if it will connect you with wherever the Picnic Area is? thanks
10/24/2006 1:39:05 PM
The harrison entrance goes into the park and leads to a nice sized parking lot. Towards the back there are picnic tables, grills, trash cans, and stuff like that. Probobly a few dozen tables and its in the shade.So to answer your question .. yes.
10/24/2006 1:41:05 PM
^thanks. wasn't trying to mess with getting on 70 or whatever. i live near downtown cary.again, thanks for the info.
10/24/2006 1:56:35 PM
watch out for bears
10/24/2006 2:10:29 PM
Walk the 15 minutes down to the company mill site and have a picnic on the rocks. They're big and flat, right by the water.
10/24/2006 2:50:16 PM
make sure you visit the old growth beech forest, its one of the more awesome things youll see
10/24/2006 3:11:51 PM
The area was populated at one time. There are abandoned mills/dams/graves all over the place. I'd advice you stay on the trails though, and keep a map with you. I've spent hours wandering around those woods lost. Well, not really lost, but far enough from a trail that a snakebite could have been a bit of a problem.Anyway, here's a map:http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/visit/wium/home.html
10/24/2006 10:53:14 PM
I got lost there one time... it took three hours for me to find my way back to a familiar spot.As for the picnic area, which picnic area are you talking about?PS great fishing out at the lakes
10/24/2006 11:03:34 PM
wilderness right between raleigh durham and cary. so wierd.the glenwood ave entrance ftw
10/25/2006 2:06:16 AM
yeah i got lost there one time during an orienteering class teacher was pissed when i emerged an hour late from the woods
10/25/2006 2:14:23 AM
^^Yeah, the Glenwood Avenue side is much better... unless you live closer to the Cary side and don't feel like driving.Both sides have a picnic area. When I was in shape I used to do bike trips between the two entrances.
10/25/2006 8:05:24 AM
yeah, its a pretty easy bike ride from one entrance to the other. i used to start at harrison, ride all the way around to lake crabtree, ride all of lake crabtree, then ride back to harrison. there's lots of both legal and 'questionable' trail out there. have fun.[Edited on October 25, 2006 at 7:59 PM. Reason : .]
10/25/2006 7:58:56 PM
One of my favorite pastimes is to search for manmade objects in the park with satellite imagery, then locate the objects on foot with nothing but a compass. Usually they turn out to be of little interest, but they are almost always indeed manmade.(A ruined dam, a stack of logs, etc) It's a good challenge and a great way to kill a few hours on a saturday. Plus the park is enormous and thick, so there's always a chance you'll come across something no one else knows about.
10/25/2006 8:40:35 PM
^What are some of your favorite discoveries? I found Camp Craggy Lake, an old abandoned boy scout camp. There's still several structures there, including a rather erie walled circle area that used to be the ceremonial circle for meetings and such.That's about all I've found out there, aside from the company mill site.
10/26/2006 10:51:46 AM
schenck forest is pretty cool also
10/26/2006 10:55:09 AM
watch out for the wolf/rabid dog/whatever it was
10/26/2006 11:29:35 AM
^^ My girlfriend and I found that same thing I think. Was it on a little lake with a short pier?
10/26/2006 11:30:24 AM
^ ???
10/26/2006 11:30:35 AM
bttt
3/28/2010 2:35:30 PM
thanksanyone know how to get to the boulders?
3/28/2010 3:51:26 PM
http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/wium/pics/parkmap.pdfThere are some fairly large boulders in Sycamore Creek along the Sycamore Trail loop. probably would help to be a little more descriptive than "the boulders"[Edited on March 28, 2010 at 4:52 PM. Reason : just sayin']
3/28/2010 4:50:52 PM
I too have gotten lost in this place
3/28/2010 4:54:48 PM
these boulders?
3/28/2010 5:12:43 PM
3/28/2010 6:01:30 PM
to my knowledge, there are only one set of boulders so i thought my question would be pretty specific. yes Chop, those boulders. If there are more boulders the size of the ones chop posted i would be interested in finding those also.i would also be interested in old homesteads, man made abandoned things and what nots if you know of any[Edited on March 29, 2010 at 2:37 PM. Reason : thanks in advance for any help]
3/29/2010 2:35:36 PM
Yo Chop do you still climb up there?
3/29/2010 2:56:36 PM
I'm not a climber, I didn't even take the pic. But I have been to the boulders before, although quite accidentally. I was just out to see what I could see. I'll give as best a description as I can remember, its been 6 or 7 years since I've been to Umstead. park at the back side of lake crabtree on old reedy creek rd. head north over i-40. 100ish yards after you cross i-40 you will see the entrance to a mtb trail on the right. (there used to be a bunch of no parking signs and concrete pilings near the trail entrance, i have no idea what it looks like now). enter the trail and head east until you reach a creek. following the creek north, it will pick up another trail that eventually leads to the boulders. Unfortunately I don't have a good indication of the distances. Maybe a half mile down from the road to the creek and then 1-2 miles north along the creek? I was on a bike and so long ago, its hard to say now. enter this area at your own risk. Someone more knowledgeable is welcome to confirm or deny this, but it was my understanding part of that land is owned by the airport authority. And while they generally tended to look the other way, it was technically possible to receive a trespassing ticket. As for gravesites and homesteads, there's a couple along the bike/horse trails (aka glorified dirt roads). I never ventured down the hiking trails.
3/29/2010 6:11:13 PM
yeah I was mostly asking for the access issues.Im pretty sure the rangers dont like you climbing in the park, its just a case of "will you be caught?"I've never climbed there so Im not sure how hard it is to get caught
3/29/2010 6:21:02 PM
I thought you need a permit of some sort to see the old-growth beech forest.
3/29/2010 9:54:57 PM
3/29/2010 10:06:18 PM
Never been out there but I think we're going sat to explore the trails. Hopefully the weather stays warm!
3/30/2010 9:28:48 AM
this weekend is going to be a beautiful one for hiking at Umstead. I can guarantee that it will be crowded on the trail out there.
3/30/2010 9:59:28 AM
there are some really big boulders down by the Old Mill site too with a very pretty view from the top.i didnt make it to Old Reedy Creek yesterday b/c my knee is banged up but plan to get out there soon
3/31/2010 11:57:25 AM
Ive not been to many parks.You can just park and wander around the entire span of the grounds?
3/31/2010 12:07:47 PM
yep
3/31/2010 12:11:46 PM
^^Be sure to yell loudly as you walk so the hunters don't shoot you. Park patrons hate silence.^^All joking aside, the rangers actually hate it when people venture off the trails.I wonder whose land the government stole to make that park.[Edited on March 31, 2010 at 12:18 PM. Reason : .]
3/31/2010 12:16:29 PM
3/31/2010 8:03:56 PM
Duplicate topic
6/9/2014 2:46:43 PM
6/9/2014 3:41:35 PM