William B. Umstead State Park
State park · Willow Pond Minor ·

William B. Umstead State Park

State park · Willow Pond Minor ·

Woodlands with hiking, bridle trails, campgrounds, and lakes

William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null
William B. Umstead State Park by null

Information

8801 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh, NC 27617 Get directions

Information

Static Map

8801 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh, NC 27617 Get directions

+1 984 867 8240
ncparks.gov

Features

wheelchair accessible parking lot
wheelchair accessible entrance
wheelchair accessible restroom

Last updated

Dec 4, 2025

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How to Spend 24 Hours in Raleigh, North Carolina (Updated 2025)

"To walk off lunch I recommend William B. Umstead State Park, a more-than-5,000-acre park about 15 minutes from downtown with three man-made lakes and over 22 miles of trails suitable for hiking, biking, running, picnicking, canoeing, and horseback riding — my favorite introductory hike is the mostly shaded 2.8-mile Sal’s Branch Trail loop, while Sycamore Trail (7.2 miles) and the six-mile Company Mill Trail are great for longer walks." - Matthew Kepnes

https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/24-hours-in-raleigh/
William B. Umstead State Park

Anthony W.

Google
Love the hiking trails. Very well maintained, wide, and well marked without detracting from the natural beauty. And let's talk about the beauty: full canopy mixed forests. The sights, sounds, smells... what an excellent break from urbania. Enjoy it Raleigh, this is a true treasure.

Bre

Google
Great park for hiking 🥾 with a multitude of sights to see 👀. There is a waterfall of sorts near where sycamore trail enters its big loop that is a bit out of the way but a worth while trek. It has a good range of beginner and advanced trails but there could be more. Overall good and a must-visit if you are in NC

Brett K.

Google
an extremely boring but an extremely large Park, just 15 minutes away from downtown Raleigh. it is a great quiet escape from the city life, and the staff that work at the visitor center are very friendly and knowledgeable, even working on weekends! you would have to come back multiple times if you want to see every corner of this park. sadly there's barely any shred of wildlife and when your main attraction is a tree with some carvings in it, not terribly eventful either... Even Crabtree lake was more interesting

Arelis P.

Google
This is one of the most beautiful park I have ever been to. I been there after my first time more then 50 times never get enough of this beautiful park, you need to be in shape to go there , it is a long walk and if you go biking 🚴 it take a good hours if you have a fast bike you can do it in 30 minutes if you not that fast it will be one hour to get out. It worth tt

Selene

Google
Amazing! Well marked trails, interesting history. Yes it's close to RDU and some spots you can hear the plans more then others but it's not bad. Frankly at one of the water fronts you can practically watch the plans take off. Was pretty neat. Beautiful scenery! No complaints.

Pete C.

Google
A beautiful park. Undisturbed by progress or development. Many miles of trails to enjoy on your own or with your dogs. The only criticism is that due to its close proximity to RDU, there is a lot of noise from aircraft overheard, but the dogs don’t seem to mind.

Alex K.

Google
Free entry, the 2.8ish mile loop that starts/ends at the welcome center/ranger station has a good mix of relatively light-to-moderate terrain, and a lake to see (no area to walk around the perimeter of the lake per se). Short drive from the city center, a decent amount of parking spots, but I can see it be packed during peak hours.

mike T.

Google
Went to Raleigh because my wife had a work type workshop, and I had like six hours to kill. I chose to spend my whole day here and absolutely loved it. Peaceful, beautiful, and fun trails. I got lucky enough to visit when I did because I was told the carved log was being taken due to it degrading. It was still beautiful. I would love to visit the park again and do other trails I missed out on.