New N. Wake preserve features trails that could have been lost to development
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- Triangle Land Conservancy will open 65-acre Old Creedmoor Nature Preserve near Falls Lake.
- Conservancy paid $1.6 million using Raleigh watershed and Wake open space funds.
- TORC and Engineers Without Borders rerouted and improved trails to reduce erosion.
The Triangle Land Conservancy will open a new nature preserve Saturday in northern Wake County near Falls Lake.
The 65-acre Old Creedmoor Nature Preserve is covered in mature forest and laced with cycling and hiking trails. It becomes the nonprofit Triangle Land Conservancy’s eighth preserve open to the public.
The property, just north of N.C. 98 between Wake Forest and Durham, had been slated for a housing development. It’s in an area gradually filling with large-lot subdivisions in the watershed of nearby Falls Lake, Wake County’s largest source of drinking water.
The land was also prized by cyclists who had blazed trails through the woods. One regular trail rider happened to be a civil engineer who worked with the men planning to develop the property and suggested they consider protecting them.
The conservancy worked with two local groups, Triangle Off-Road Cyclists or TORC and Engineers Without Borders, to reroute and renovate trails in erosion-prone areas and build bridges and other features to both improve the ride and protect the environment.
“Together, we were able to conserve land that filters water for Falls Lake and provides critical habitat area, while also saving and enhancing the community-built trails,” said Sandy Sweitzer, the conservancy’s executive director. “From lizard’s tail plants, to mountain bikers, to dog walkers, to orb weaver spiders, we are excited everyone will have a home at the TLC’s Old Creedmoor Preserve.”
The land conservancy paid $1.6 million for the property, with money from two government funds: the City of Raleigh Watershed Protection Program and the Wake County Open Space Program. Another $312,000 came from TORC, the state’s Great Trails grant program, The Caterpillar Foundation and The Barnhill Family Foundation to improve the trail network and build a gravel parking lot.
At a ceremony Friday, city and county officials said the preserve will help protect drinking water and provide people with much-needed space to relax and connect with nature in one of the fastest-growing counties in the country.
“Conserving land that was already used recreationally by so many members of the community is a win for everyone,” said Wake commissioner Shinica Thomas.
Nearly four miles of trails loop through the preserve. They are shared by hikers and cyclists, though TORC is developing some alternate routes just for bikes. On shared trails, hikers and cyclists are asked to go in opposite directions, so they can see each other coming.
How a planned subdivision became a nature preserve
Tom Hankins and Stephen Eastman had planned to build houses on 75 wooded acres off Old Creedmoor Road. When their civil engineer, Todd Meissner, mentioned the trails, they began thinking about preserving them.
They ended up building homes on six lots along Old Creedmoor Road and sold a seventh for the preserve’s parking lot. Hankins said the 65 acres they sold to Triangle Land Conservancy at a bargain price would have become another 20 to 25 house lots.
Hankins can still picture how nice the lots would have been on the property, but he’s glad he had a hand in saving it. Three times a week he walks these trails with his dog Buddy, an 80-pound Newfiedoodle.
“You know, you do your career and you look back and say, ‘OK, what did I do that I am proud of?’” he said. “So we gave up money to preserve this. But I am still personally getting some benefit, too.”
The preserve is free and open dawn to dusk. For more information, go to https://triangleland.org/preserve/old-creedmoor-nature-preserve
