Earlier this year while attending a Durham Parks & Rec Fun Caravan event, we discovered Sandy Creek Park. If you’ve never been, now is a great time to go and check out the beautiful Fall colors at this tucked-away gem in Durham. Sandy Creek Park sits on 102 acres and is home to a wetlands restoration project. At the heart of the park is a pond surrounded by a beautiful nature trail loop. The loop is not long, probably about a mile or less, and has small, informative signs along the way. One of the best parts of this loop was the observation deck on the pond, seen in our first photo here, that was painted with beautiful animals on the inside and trees on the outside. We’ve never seen one like this, but we imagine the high barrier with holes to peek out is ideal to see wildlife without disturbing them with your presence. While not entirely stroller friendly, there are paved areas here that enable you to access portions of the nature trail. For stroller-friendly adventures, take a right at the parking lot entrance. (There is a Kids in Parks Track Trail sign here that lets you know you’re going the right way.) This will lead you up to a small boardwalk on the creek, plus up the left side of the pond. By the boardwalk and nature trail, you will see a kiosk with a mailbox next to it - open it to get a pamphlet on the birds at the park. The park also has a modest picnic shelter, a butterfly garden, a mountain bike trail, and bathrooms. And as mentioned above, make sure to stop by the Track Trails sign at the parking lot. When we went, this was brand new and full of brochures with fun activities to do while you’re hitting the trails! Our only word of warning here is that we ran into some water overflow from the pond at the back of the loop trail. We would imagine this isn’t there all the time, but just be conscious of that. Bring the hiking boots just in case, or be willing to head back the way you came if you don’t want to get wet feet. Have you been to Sandy Creek Park? Let us know in the comments!
(Note: We're currently working on updating our website with our reviews. This review was originally posted on Instagram and Facebook on October 28, 2020.)
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