Have an adventure running, biking or horseback riding in the huge 5,599 acre William B. Umstead State Park. The Crabtree Creek Entrance on the northern side of the park is located of US Highway 70 in Raleigh, NC. The mostly forested park is in the center of the growing Raleigh-Durham area.
After turning onto Umstead Parkway, the road goes by the Visitors Center to a pair of parking lots where it ends. From the Visitors Center trail runners can take the Sal Branch Trail loop by Big Lake. At the two parking lots there is the Oak Rock Trail and the Potts Branch Trail that are both short loops. For a longer run and to connect to other trails, take the Sycamore Trail. It crosses Group Camp Road near the intersection with Sycamore Road then crosses the multi-use trail (MUT) that connects the horse trailer parking to the Graylyn MUT then does a loop that crosses the Graylyn MUT twice. The larger MUT are available for trail runners, cyclists and equestrians. Graylyn MUT, as seen in the above picture, connects the Graylyn Gate Entrance to Reedy Creek Trail. Along the trail is the connection to North Turkey Creek MUT, as seen in the picture below, which goes to the intersection with Cedar Ridge MUT.
Just south of the visitors center of is Group Camp Road and off of it is Sycamore Road which ends at the horse trailer parking where equestrians can access the MUT.
The park hosts a few competitive events during the year: The Umstead 100 mile Endurance Run, Umstead Trail Marathon, Turkey Chase, Walk/Run/Bike for Umstead and Umstead Gravel Grinder.
Find activities that move you by checking the calendar, subscribing to the blog, following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook or adding us to your circle on Google+