Raleigh’s celebrated greenway system is nearing its Golden Anniversary. Whether you count the funding, the digging, or the using as the ‘date of birth’, its fiftieth year will fall somewhere between 2023 to 2026. The system has become a giant web laid over the Capitol city, with over 117 miles of trails sited on 3800+ acres of land, making it the largest park in town. The popularity of Raleigh’s system has encouraged neighboring municipalities to create their own greenway networks, many of which link to the Raleigh system. It is now possible to ride from Clayton or Knightdale to downtown Raleigh, Cary, and even Durham via greenways. My own count of currently completed greenways in the Triangle area is north of 250 miles.
Walnut Creek and Crabtree Creek are two ‘geological reasons’ that Raleigh has a greenway system at all. Both of these large creeks flow into the Neuse River, itself another ‘reason’ for a greenway trail. Together with the House Creek, they form an approximate rectangle roughly encircling the middle section of Raleigh. The route called The Classic Loop follows these waterways and traces the rectangle. Many of the main trails in the Raleigh system build on this rectangle to facilitate greenway navigation across town. The Neuse River Trail in the east, the Reedy Creek Greenway going west, and the Mine Creek Greenway going north all link to the ‘classic loop’ rectangle expanding the network of trail in each cardinal direction.
As far back as the late sixties, when Raleigh’s growth spurt was gathering steam, leaders were trying to find ways to cope with the tendency of both the Walnut Creek and the Crabtree Creek creeks to flood. Various strategies were contemplated to regulate the flow of water, and to protect areas for development. These included the channelling of streams, and creating lakes. Shelley Lake was created in 1972, Lake Lynn in 1976, and Lake Crabtree in 1989. While there is some evidence of under-grounding (an unnamed creek in Boylan Heights) and channellization (on the Walnut Creek Greenway near South Saunders), these strategies were abandoned in favor of maintaining green corridors through the city – which happened to be perfect for greenway trails.
In September 1972, Bill Flournoy, then a graduate student at North Carolina State University presented a proposal to the Raleigh City Council outlining a series of ‘green’ corridors following the Crabtree and Walnut Creeks through Raleigh. The report proposed a strategy of flood control, conservation, and recreation and presented an attractive alternative to the channelling of creeks and the creation of reservoirs. The council adopted his proposal, and in 1974 began funding a small city department, with a master greenway plan being adopted in 1976.
Through the eighties and nineties, greenway mileage was added slowly. Some of the early segments, like Lake Johnson and Shelley Lake became extremely popular, and this popularity persuaded the city in its development of more grand plans. In 2005 the system received a huge boost when the Reedy Creek Pedestrian bridge was completed linking the Meredith College area with the Art Museum Park and points west, including Umstead Park and Cary, making longer, and more interesting greenway rides possible. In 2012, the House Creek Trail was completed creating a north/south connector between many already completed east-west trails. The sonic boom in the development of the system came in 2014 with the completion of the Neuse River Trail, and the extensions of the Walnut Creek and Crabtree Creek Trails. The Neuse River Trail linked the Raleigh greenway trails to greenways from both Knightdale and Clayton.
There are over 100 miles yet on the books for the Raleigh Greenway System. It may never be finished, but the purpose here is to show connections between existing trails. Perhaps some connections will turn into greenway trails in the future.
Resources
There are many good sources of information on specific greenways trails. Some of the most helpful are included below.
History
Sir Walter Article – Raleigh’s Amazing Greenway
Maps and other info.
Triangle Area Greenway Map from Oaks and Spokes
Parks
