Urban Hiking in North Carolina

When you want the feeling of the great outdoors, but also never want to be too far away from the creature comforts you crave, North Carolina offers you,  “urban hiking.” Reconnect with the eclectic urban energy of the city in open-air spaces that appeal to social distancing sensibilities including outdoor museums, waterfalls surrounded by skyscrapers, interactive art exhibitions, climbing walls, and colourful murals.

Dorothea Dix Park

Dorothea Dix Park invites everyone to walk, jog or bike through 308 acres of oak trees, wide-open meadows and rolling hills while taking in incredible views of the Raleigh skyline. Each field offers different types of play whether it’s flying kites, bird-watching, yoga, disc golf or picnics. While the daffodils and sunflowers really put on a show in spring and summer, pups are welcome year-round at the Dix Park Dog Park.

LeBauer Park

With the aerial sculpture Where We Met crafted from 35 miles of technical fiber, LeBauer Park is truly a downtown destination with festivals and movie nights unfolding on the Great Lawn under Janet Echelman’s whimsical art. Kids love the 15,000-square-foot play area with artificial turf, climbing features, a merry-go-round, and sensory wall. At the VF Seasonal Plaza’s splash pad, everyone’s inner child comes to play in the fun fog and water jet blasts. For more entertainment, try the three-hole putting green and Games Table section with cornhole, table tennis, and foosball.

Museum Park at North Carolina Museum of Art

Art meets nature at the nation’s largest museum park, the Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park. The 164 acres of dog-friendly trails lead to gardens, sunflower fields, renowned sculptures, reflecting ponds and public art installations. The park features works from famed artists such as Auguste Rodin, Joan Miró and Barbara Kruger. One iconic photo you’ll see all over Instagram is Gyre by local artist Thomas Sayre: three enormous steel and concrete rings that seem to rise from the grass. Pose in each circle to see the full vortex-like effect of the sculpture.

Romare Bearden Park

Inspired by the Charlotte-born artist who gained renown in the Harlem Renaissance, Romare Bearden Park offers a tranquil retreat among the buzz of Uptown. One of the Queen City’s most interactive settings, the 5.4-acre park features a Childhood Muse Plaza with climbing rocks, spray towers and a color-changing waterfall fountain for splashing. Colorful pavements in the Paris Memory courtyard and along the Memory Walk evoke Bearden’s paintings, while Madeline’s and Maudell’s gardens honor the plots tended by the artist’s mother and grandmother.

For high-resolution imagery or information about these and other urban hiking adventures that can be found in North Carolina (and the Southern United States), reach out to Tori Goddard.