William B. Umstead State Park is a North Carolina state park in

Wake County Wake County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most-populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake County was the 9th-fastest growing county in the U ...

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 ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It covers nestled between the expanding cities of

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 ...

Cary Cary may refer to: Places ;United States * Cary, Illinois, part of the Chicago metropolitan area * Cary, Indiana, part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area * Cary, Miami County, Indiana * Cary, Maine * Cary, Mississippi * Cary, North Carolina ...

, and

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. It offers hiking, bridle, and bike trails, boat rentals, camping, picnic areas, and educational programs. 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, runs through the park.

History

Long before the first settlers, the area now known as William B. Umstead State Park was an untamed land.

American Bison The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the ...

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

bobcats The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...

and

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

roamed forests of oak, hickory and beech. Native Americans later inhabited the land and avenues of trade were developed nearby. Such avenues included the Occoneeche trail to the north and the Pee Dee trail to the south. In 1774, land grants opened the area for settlement. Forests were cleared as agricultural interests sprouted. While early farming efforts were successful, poor cultivation practices and one-crop production led to depletion and erosion of the soil. During the Depression, farmers made futile attempts to grow cotton in worn-out soil around Crabtree Creek. In 1934, under the Resettlement Administration, federal and state agencies united to buy of this submarginal land to develop a recreation area. The

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

, as well as the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

, helped construct the site while providing much needed jobs. Four camps along with day-use and picnic facilities were built and the park opened to the public in 1937. The state purchased this area, known as Crabtree Creek Recreational Demonstration Area, for $1, and more facilities were built as the General Assembly made its first state parks division appropriation in the 1940s. In 1950, more than of the park were established as a separate park for African-Americans. This area was named Reedy Creek State Park. Crabtree Creek Recreational Demonstration Area was renamed a few years later after former Governor William Bradley Umstead because of his conservation efforts. In 1966, the Crabtree Creek and Reedy Creek areas were united under the same name; William B. Umstead State Park was open to everyone. Prior to the purchase of the land for public use, it had historically been used for timberland, as well as a site for several mills along Crabtree Creek. Remnants of milling operations can still be found preserved within the park. During segregation, the Highway 70 entrance was for whites and the Reedy Creek entrance for blacks. Currently, the Reedy Creek entrance is the main entrance to the park for North Carolina State University. Forestry courses use this entrance to examine the trees native to the park. Additionally, many Raleigh runners use this more private entrance to run in an area of the park that is less frequented by tourist and hiking groups. The only real remnant of this segregation of entrances is the lack of a public road that connects both entrances - vehicles that access the park by one entrance cannot go through the park to the other side.

Information

Umstead is bordered by

Raleigh-Durham International Airport The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to th ...

on the west,

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

on the south,

US 70 U.S. Route 70 or U.S. Highway 70 (US 70) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. It is a major east–west highway of the Southeastern, Southern and Southwestern United States. ...

on the north, and by the western outskirts of

on the east. The main bridle and bike trail is Reedy Creek Road, which is open to traffic in western Raleigh (connecting the

North Carolina Museum of Art The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) is an art museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. It opened in 1956 as the first major museum collection in the country to be formed by state legislation and funding. Since the initial 1947 appropriation that e ...

to the park entrance), closed except to rangers' vehicles as it crosses the park from east to west (a distance of 3.5 miles), and then heads south into Cary where it becomes open to traffic again. At the edge of the park it connects to Black Creek Greenway and the

Lake Crabtree County Park Lake Crabtree County Park is a park in Wake County, North Carolina. It is a forested area between Cary, Morrisville, and Raleigh-Durham International Airport, bounded by the northeastern shore of Lake Crabtree, I-40, and Aviation Parkway. The ...

trails. Crabtree Creek also flows across Umstead; its source is Lake Crabtree right at the park's edge, and it flows eastward throughout much of the southern part of the park (with trails in varying degrees of maintenance along its length) and then crosses Reedy Creek Road to flow north. The main entrances are the two ends of Reedy Creek Road, two entrances off of Ebenezer Church Road in

near where Crabtree Creek leaves the park, the official Reedy Creek entrance at the end of Cary's Harrison Avenue, and the park's main entrance at Highway 70 in the north. The latter are equipped with parking lots, bathrooms, and campgrounds; at the Highway 70 entrance there is also a visitors' center and a campground. Other important bike and bridle trails include Graylyn Road, connecting the Ebenezer Church entrance to Reedy Creek Road, and Turkey Creek Road, which winds through the northern part of the park; hiking trails include the Company Mill trail in the south and the Sycamore Trail in the north, both of which are loops of moderate difficulty, as well as many others. Bikes and horses are prohibited on hiking trails. Umstead is part of the

Southeastern mixed forests The Southeastern mixed forests are an ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forest biome, in the lower portion of the Eastern United States. Setting This ecoregion covers the Piedmont region of the eastern United States, stretching in a ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

. The topography is hilly, and it has several artificial lakes (which are very common in

, partially due to a flood control plan implemented over the last half-century).

Piedmont Beech Natural Area

Is a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

located inside the park, which protects a mixed

mesophytic Mesophytes are terrestrial plants which are neither adapted to particularly dry nor particularly wet environments. An example of a mesophytic habitat would be a rural temperate meadow, which might contain Solidago, goldenrod, Trifolium, clover, Leuc ...

forest and maturing stands of

beech tree Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

s. The natural area was designated in 1974. Access to the area is allowed only by special permit.

Nearby state parks

The following state parks are within of Umstead State Park: *

Eno River State Park Eno River State Park is a North Carolina state park in Durham and Orange Counties, North Carolina. Together with the adjoining West Point on the Eno city park, the two parks preserve over 14 miles (22.5 km) of the Eno River and surroun ...

( Durham County) *

Falls Lake State Recreation Area Falls Lake State Recreation Area is a North Carolina state park in Durham and Wake Counties, North Carolina in the United States. Near Wake Forest, North Carolina, it covers along the shores of Falls Lake. History Prior to 1978, flooding of t ...

Jordan Lake State Recreation Area Jordan Lake State Recreation Area is a North Carolina state park spanning Chatham County, and Wake County North Carolina in the United States. It comprises of woodlands along the shores of Jordan Lake. History The New Hope River Valley, now ...

References

External links

*
Crabtree Creek Recreational Demonstration Area
(

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...