NC decided it’s safe to go back to state parks. Here’s what reopening looks like.
When Neil Demarse found out there was a possibility that state parks would be among the first places where the state would ease restrictions, he checked Umstead Park’s website every day.
Demarse, 45, of Cary, followed the news to make sure North Carolina was meeting all the benchmarks that would allow parks to reopen. On Saturday, after the governor’s decision that enough of the goals had been met to enter Phase One of the state’s gradual easing of restrictions, 28 state parks opened back up for the first time in weeks.
Since parks shut down to help slow the spread of COVID-19, Demarse and others have had to find other ways to get their nature fix. But early Saturday morning, Demarse and his girlfriend woke up, grabbed their bikes and headed to the trail. They biked 10 miles over two hours.
“Everything has been closed, so it’s been frustrating finding things to do,” he said. “It’s just good to be out.”
It was a cool, sunny day at William B. Umstead State Park. The park was fairly crowded as people walked their dogs, jogged or biked. They kept a safe distance, and took the long way around each other as they passed.
Few people wore masks.
At one point Saturday, South Mountains State Park in Burke County was completely full. Officials there had to close their gates to limit visitors, Katie Hall, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation, said at 2 p.m. Saturday after talking to a few park officials.
At Raven Rock State Park in Harnett County, 40 to 50 cars were backed up waiting to get in. Lumber River State Park was quiet, Hall said.
Parking full at Eno River
At the Eno River State Park Few’s Ford access, a woman wearing a mask told people in vehicles pulling up that the parking spaces were filling up, but that it was fine to park on the shoulder.
Most of the parking spaces were full, but that didn’t translate into a crowded trail.
At the ford, a wide swath of shallow river, about 10 people stood around holding their dogs or gathering their children with plenty of room to social distance. None wore masks.
Mark Morgan, of Knightdale, visited with his wife, daughter, son and yellow Labrador named Toby.
“It’s nice to be able to get outside,” Morgan said.
The state Department of Health and Human Services reported more than 14,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 Saturday morning. There have been more than 500 deaths.
For several weeks, 29 of the state’s 41 parks had been closed to visitors because of COVID-19. Hall said some parks were closed because either those parks were becoming overcrowded, the virus was spreading in the area, or county officials requested it.
The 12 parks that did not close either did not have many visitors or county officials did not request it.
Gorges State Park remains closed because it is connected to a national forest that remains closed.
Back at Umstead Park, Joe and Lauren Vukin were just beginning their walk with their 2-year-old son Henry, who was busy examining the leaves on the ground.
The Chapel Hill couple asked their son if he enjoyed being outside. Shy, Henry smiled, but did not say anything. He continued to pick leaves.
“Having a toddler, it’s a challenge to keep him busy when the parks aren’t open,” Lauren Vukin said. “So it’s been really nice to get back out and get him running again.”
