With the completion in 2014 of the Neuse River Trail, combined with the extension of both the Crabtree Creek Trail and the Walnut Creek Trail, it became possible to roughly trace Raleigh’s beltline on a bike. It may be too much to call the the Mother of All Rides, but for a cyclist in the middle of Raleigh, at least part of this loop is used to connect to Falls Lake, Knightdale, Clayton, Cary and points north such as Shelley Lake and Honeycutt Park.
This route follows Crabtree Creek Trail and the Walnut Creek/Rocky Branch/ Reedy Creek trails for east-west travel. The Neuse River Trail, and House Creek Trail provide for north-south travel. Following waterways makes for a relatively flat terrain but there are some notable spots with short and steep climbs. Most notably the section on the Crabtree Creek Trail near Lockwood Park, and a couple of sections of the House Creek Trail.
Two detours from the greenway are shown in this route, and are used to avoid construction projects that should finish in our lifetimes. Streets must be used in the Country Club Hills area to avoid a stormwater construction project. Between Capitol Blvd. and Atlantic Blvd., Hodges St. is used to avoid a collapse on the greenway boardwalk near Atlantic. A bypass of the failed boardwalk should be operational by mid 2021. Near Meredith College the route strays from the trail for a smoother connection between the Reedy Creek Greenway, and the Rocky Branch Trail.
