Best Bird Watching Area Cary Near Me

4worldlovers: TLC nature preserves are still open! Stay 6 feet apart, take all trash with you, and avoid overcrowding the parking lots.


At Swift Creek Bluffs Nature Preserve, massive beech trees dating back to the days of James Madison cling to the 100-foot bluffs rising abruptly from Swift Creek. The beech trees are all the more impressive squeezed as they are onto a three-quarter-mile-long preserve bound by Lochmere Golf Course to the west, a housing development to the south, and the busy Holly Springs Road to the east. Standing at the base of the Stairway to Heaven, a series of steps leading you up the ridge, you can take in the beech bowl rising before you. There, you are transported from the heart of Cary to the primitive forests of western North Carolina.

The north-facing bluff’s shaded slopes support flora more at home in the cooler Appalachians: hydrangea, bigleaf snowbell, witch-hazel and alternate-leaf dogwood. Two miles upstream, in a similar alpine-like setting, you’ll find montane hemlocks thriving at the Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve. Benches allow visitors to rest and enjoy the cool of the bluffs, even in the heat of summer.


There may only be a mile or so of trail, but don’t expect to blow through the preserve. In addition to the neck-craning beech, a narrow floodplain offers multiple reasons to take your time. Bloodroot and trout lily kick off a festive wildlife season that begins mid-February. The preserve respectfully earns its place in The North Carolina Birding Trail: Piedmont Trail Guide, especially during migration and the early breeding season. Swift Creek itself is a playground for beaver, muskrat, and an assortment of aquatic life. In the transition from winter to spring, vernal pools collect at the base of the bluffs, offering ideal breeding grounds for spring peepers and upland chorus frogs, noted, respectively, for their high-pitched call and resemblance to a thumb being run over the tines of a comb.

Hike to the top of the bluff and take advantage of the numerous benches that turn their back on civilization (literally: the Lochmere development is less than 100 feet away). Take in the passage of Swift Creek below and a lush hardwood canopy concealing the surrounding hustle and bustle of Cary just beyond. At 23 acres, urban escape comes in a small, but powerful package at Swift Creek Bluffs Nature Preserve.

Swift Creek Bluffs Nature Preserve has been named a WakeWonder by the WakeNature Preserves Partnership. WakeWonders are the most outstanding natural features in Wake County – features sure to inspire awe and amazement in all who visit. Additional WakeWonders include TLC’s Temple Flat Rock Preserve, Annie Louise Wilkerson, MD Nature Preserve Park, Harris Lake County Park, Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve, Prairie Ridge Ecostation, and Robertson Millpond Preserve.

4worldlovers:

Work to rebuild bridges on the walking trail around Bond Lake will begin on March 13. The trail will remain open, but signs and closure will be in place for each bridge as it is worked on individually.

Fred G. Bond Metro Park, at 310 acres, is one of the largest municipal parks in Wake County. Like an oasis in the middle of town, the park preserves the environment and offers opportunities for many types of recreation.

Gates open by 7:30 a.m. and close at sunset. The times are posted on the gates.

Bond Park Waterfront, screened porch, and deck has individual picnic tables, with and without grills, scattered throughout the area. These are intended for individuals to use free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis; the maximum group size is 12 people. If you are planning a large group gathering, please contact us to reserve a space.

Find bait, snacks, ice cream, snow cones, drinks, and more—all for sale at the beautiful Bond Park Boathouse nestled among the pines on the waterfront of Bond Lake.

Bond Park offers a basic orienteering course of the point-to-point variety, with a start, a series of controls to be visited, and designated finish. Use the Bond basic map with control points or the master map with the master control markers to create your own course.

An outdoor learning facility, the Bond Park Challenge Course encourages individuals and groups to see their potential through a graduated progression of challenge activities that foster personal growth and improved teamwork.

4worldlovers: This 160 acre park offers athletic fields, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, picnic areas, playgrounds, fitness and nature trails, and a 50+ acre lake.

Over 3 miles of developed nature and fitness trails (2 miles of paved greenway, 1 mile natural walking trail)

4worldlovers:
The park is subject to closure during special events, inclement weather and for natural recovery.

The park is also closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Day.