Hi all,

I’ve got a little boy that loves the water. The weather is heating up again and I’m looking for suggestions for creek walks / rock hopping streams that aren’t an hour away. Any ideas?

Rich

The Greenway along Broadway (towards the Botanical Gardens) is partly done and follows (i think) Reed Creek.  The completed part is between Cauble and Catawba streets and has little places for rock-hopping and looking for water bugs and such…

The more ‘wooly’ part is between Catawba and the corner of the Botanical Gardens, it’s quiet and except for a few groundhogs (whistlepigs) i haven’t seen too much other animals (humans).  It’s a great shady little walk.  No drinking the water though - it looks clear and fresh but represents a lot of runoff that probably contain heavy metals.

Also, farther down at the Botanical gardens it meets up with another creek and there’s some definite rock play down by the service road (and all the way to the interstate if you’re interested).

Thanks Zen. I actually wasn’t thinking about THAT close in! But I should probably check it out. One thing I’ve found with urban streams are hazards such as glass, etc. My daughter sliced open her foot on some metal, and that was right at the North Mills River campground!

Welcome, gps.  And you’ll find the possibility of metal and glass nearly anywhere.

A place i like poking about in a stream is Bent Creek that runs through the NC Arboretum, and it’s relatively clean and glass free, though i have seen some (and trash). 

[rant][advice]Make sure to park at the Bent Creek pullover on Brevard Road [/advice] because - even though the Arboretum was paid for by millions of taxpayer dollars, you still have to pay an entrance fee even if you’re a resident. [/rant]

Well, it wasn’t *quite* an hour away, but we ended up going to Sunburst and up the Pigeon River. My baby boy had a blast and is still sound asleep!

Thanks for the tips. We do get out to Bent Creek, usually once a week or so.

my favorite creek walk is shining rock wilderness (along the bottom there, to the waterfalls) ... but that would take a bit to get there and a good hike down.

another good place that’s easy access is the laurel river in madison county. come up I-26 to weaverville, take the marshall exit and head past marshall toward hot springs. just at the left turn toward hot springs on 25, there is a parking lot on the left with a trail that leads down to the laurel river (easy 5 minute walk) ... lots of places there to wade, swim, rock hop, laze about, hike, etc. very nice for kids ... you can venture out as far or as near as you wish from the car and there’s a nice canopy of trees to cool you off ... occasionally, you even see folks floating by!

if you really want to thrill him, there’s a garnet mine with a creek where you can find whole garnet crystals! (i have found hundreds, with the largest so far about the size of a plum, with perfect 12-sided facets!) treasure hunting is fun for all ages ... and this is the real thing, not the roadside buckets. there’s also a cave (less safe for kids, but still okay if they’re supervised) but i stick to the creek and have spent entire days sifting through the mud and chillin’ my feet. post here or email me if you want more info and directions ... (there’s a great local rockhound group that makes field trips on weekends and welcomes kids ... check out wncrocks.com and click into the MAGMA club links ... these guys are the best!)

have fun!

Try this ode to Windy Falls on the Horsepasture River (thanks to William Najger for the video)