The Neuse River Trail is a long paved greenway located in the

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

area of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, running along the banks of the

Neuse River The Neuse River ( , Tuscarora: Neyuherú·kęʔkì·nęʔ) is a river rising in the Piedmont of North Carolina and emptying into Pamlico Sound below New Bern. Its total length is approximately , making it the longest river entirely contained in No ...

from

Falls Lake Falls Lake is a 12,410 acre (50 km²) reservoir located in Durham, Wake, and Granville counties in North Carolina, United States. Falls Lake extends up the Neuse River to its source at the confluence of the Eno, Little, and Flat rivers. ...

Dam to the town of Clayton. The route passes through the jurisdictions of

, Wake Forest, Knightdale, and Clayton in Wake and Johnston counties. The Neuse River Greenway trail is part of the Capital Area Greenway system as well as the

Mountains-to-Sea Trail The Mountains-to-Sea State Trail (MST) is a long-distance trail for hiking and backpacking, that traverses North Carolina from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks. The trail's western endpoint is at Clingman's Dome, where it connects ...

that crosses

from the

Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge ...

to the

Outer Banks The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separating ...

. Open to both cyclists and pedestrians, the Neuse River Trail is the longest greenway trail in North Carolina and the longest paved trail between northern Virginia and western Georgia. The Neuse River Trail is a part of the

East Coast Greenway The East Coast Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle route between Maine and Florida along the East Coast of the United States. In 2020, the Greenway received over 50 million visits. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was created in 1991. ...

, a 3,000 mile long system of trails connecting Maine to Florida.

Route

The Neuse River Trail is split into seven sections, from North to South: * Falls Lake Dam to Horseshoe Farm Park * Horseshoe Farm Park to Buffaloe Road Athletic Park * Buffaloe Road Athletic Park to Milburnie Dam * Milburnie Dam to Anderson Point Park * Anderson Point Park to Auburn Knightdale Road * Auburn Knightdale Road to County Line * County Line to Legend Park in Clayton

Bridges

The Neuse River Trail is notable for its

pedestrian bridges A pedestrian separation structure is any structure that removes pedestrians from a roadway, street or railway track. This creates a road junction where vehicles and pedestrians do not interact. This can be considered a type of grade separati ...

that span the Neuse River. Two

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

s span the river; one at Skycrest Road and the other at Louisburg Road. Designed b
Stewart Inc.
the two bridges are long, wide, feature concrete decks and tall steel towers. Other bridges over the Neuse River feature a steel truss design, such as the Milburnie Dam bridge. Bridges over

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

and creeks are constructed out of wood.

History

In 1976, the Raleigh City Council adopted the Capital Area Greenway System plan of which the Neuse River Corridor was a spine. In 1996, the Raleigh completed the Neuse River Regional Park Master Plan. The major recommendations included in the Neuse River Plan: * The preservation of the full width of the floodplain along the Neuse River. The plan calls for the corridor to include the 100 year flood plan or extend ) from the riverbank, whichever is greater. * The development of a trail system within the corridor with one wide asphalt trail extending the entire length; * The development of adjoining upland park areas at a spacing of 2 to 3 miles to provide various recreation opportunities and access points to the river and trail. When Raleigh approved the Neuse River Regional Park Master Plan in 1996 only a stretch of trail existed along the Hedingham neighborhood. Since then the city has acquired over 2,000 acres of land along the Neuse river for use as greenway as well as nine parcels of land for future parks. In 2003, Raleigh voters approved a Parks and Recreation Bond Referendum that included $1.474 million for the development of the Upper Neuse Trail. In addition to the City's funding, Federal Enhancement funds of $893,000 and

American Reinvestment and Recovery Act The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the Gr ...

funds of $3.25 million were acquired by the Raleigh. In November 2011, the first stretch of the Upper Neuse River Greenway opened from Falls Lake Dam to the

WRAL Soccer Center The WRAL Soccer Center is a soccer complex featuring a 3,200-seat, lighted soccer-specific stadium located on Perry Creek Road in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is situated between Capital Boulevard (US Route 1) and Louisburg Road (NC Route 401), ...

. In April 2013, a 20 mile stretch from Horseshoe Farm Park to the Johnston County line officially opened. The last section of the greenway, at the Horseshoe Farm riverbend, was completed in 2014. It is a connector between the Upper Neuse River section and the rest of the greenway. The town of Clayton's sections of the greenway include the Sam's Branch Greenway and the Clayton River Walk on the Neuse. Future plans call for the Greenway to connect with Legend Park and Municipal Park and to eventually extend to Clemmons State Forest - a total of approximately . Additional sections will be constructed as funding becomes available. On October 13, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at and near the greenway. A total of five people were killed, and two others were injured.

Gallery

File:Cyclists on Neuse River Greenway.jpg, Cyclists on Neuse River Trail File:Neuse River Greenway, Bridges Lake.jpg, Bridges Lake section File:Skycrest suspension bridge.jpg, Skycrest suspension bridge File:Milburnie Dam bridge.jpg, Milburnie Dam bridge File:Neuse River Greenway, Buffaloe Road Athletic Park bridge.jpg, Buffaloe Road Athletic Park bridge File:Bridge at Mingo Creek.jpg, Bridge at Mingo Creek File:Bridge at Swift Creek.jpg, Bridge at Swift Creek File:Cyclists and joggers on the greenway.jpg, Cyclists and joggers on the greenway

References

External links