North Hills Park - Raleigh, NC

I know people do Christmas in July, but how about Halloween in May? 👻🎃 While investigating a new-to-us park to add to our Shady Parks Tour, we definitely had what felt like a Halloween in May experience.

This is the playground area at North Hills Park, which we really loved for its shade, the uniqueness of many of the playground structure pieces, the large covered pavilion, and nearby bathrooms and parking.

Now you may be thinking… but where’s the Halloween?

So, as I walked over to confirm that what I thought was the bathroom building actually was bathrooms, I looked just beyond it and thought, “Well, that’s a creepy fence that looks straight out of a horror movie. I wonder if that’s a graveyard. But it can’t be, that would be so odd right in the middle of a park.”

Reader, as you can see in photo 10, it was a graveyard. 🤣 And even better, the large headstone indicates “Mary”’s year of birth, but no year of death. She would be almost 170 today!

I really do love the internet sometimes, though, because with minor sleuthing, I was able to find a little more information. Mary did pass in 1936 and is buried there, but no indication why the headstone was not updated. Also, according to Reddit (so take it with a grain of salt, I guess), Buffaloe Road is named after this family, and descendants of this family started Buffaloe Lanes. Really cool!

Now some of our regular logistics info:

• Mulch AND sand playground.

• Paved walkway to the playground and the pavilion is paved, making this easy for a stroller.

• Some corners of the playground drop off a bit, so just watch your littles.

• Bug spray recommended.

• Park also is home to various sports fields and courts.

• Easy to avoid the cemetery if you want. 😂

Have you been to North Hills Park? If so, have you seen this cemetery? Let us know in the comments!