Cliffs of the Neuse State Park

When we arrived here, east of Raleigh, North Carolina, we did not know that we were close to the Neuse River, which we had pedaled, first in 2018, and then again in 2022.  We knew it from those visits as a pleasant river running through suburban areas, but not as a wild river.  Looking for a hike this visit, we discovered Cliffs of the Neuse State Park, and it reminded us of our earlier visits.  However, reading about the cliffs along the Neuse River in the state park, we realized that there might be more to this river than we had realized.  So we headed off to put our boots on the ground and rediscover the river and its wild habitat:

 

 

We started our hike on the 350 Yard Trail, which led us across the top of the cliffs on the river:

 

 

Sure enough:  this was a different Neuse River than we had known.  Here, on these cliffs, there was no human structure in sight:

 

 

While not wilderness in the technical sense, because there is so much farmland in the area, nevertheless, the land around the river resembles wilderness and produced a wonderful hiking experience:

 

 

Today was Sunday, so there were visitors in the Park, but they were few and far between.  We spotted a few, down below on a beach along the river:

 

 

As we hiked further along the river, we descended to the banks and found visitors of another kind along the water's edge -- cypress knees!  We were a little surprised to see cypress this far north, and it brought back wonderful memories from our recent outings in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

 

 

The river flows peacefully through the park, and we enjoyed a pause to watch the breeze blow the branches of trees over the riverbanks:

 

 

Our hike was up-and-down.  Here we looked down a flight of wooden railroad tie stairs toward a string of boardwalks toward a freshet and a trail junction:

 

 

The trails in the park are well constructed and well maintained.  Here, an observation deck off the trail to the left allows a look down onto the freshet and the trail on the right:

 

 

In certain places, the park staff have built simple, traditional fences, and, where the fences have fallen into disarray, found small fallen tree trunks nearby to slip into the post-and-rail assembly and keep the fence maintained:

As we hiked, we followed the freshet upstream toward the main lake in the park.  We found one pretty little cascade as we neared the lake:

Turning a corner, we reached the lake's spillway, and then the lake, where we found a convenient bench and ate our lunch --

 

-- enjoying the gentle spectacle of the first apple blossom blooms, which have erupted even before the first green leaves of the surrounding deciduous trees:

 

 

After a small picnic lunch and a healthy drink of water, we continued on our way.  In the uplands above the lake, we spotted this tree with three curious burls, which were curious because of their very smooth surfaces:

 

  

The rest of our hike was uneventful; we solved all of the problems of the world, said a few hellos to other hikers, and generally enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of early Spring.  Kathy spotted this little one on the trail just in time to avoid scaring it off before David could get a photo:

This was a short hike -- only four miles.  But it fit the time we had today and provided a nice stretch of the legs to prepare for a longer hike tomorrow, in yet another state park.