Welcome to the September installment of “Alamance Awaits,” an exploration of some of the beautiful outdoor spaces offered throughout Alamance County, made possible by Alamance Parks. I’m Ali Evans, and in addition to being a member of the 97.9 The Hill & Chapelboro.com team, I’m also a resident of Alamance County, and I’ve had the best time exploring all these wonderful spaces in my (other) community!
For this edition of Alamance Awaits, my husband and I packed up both dogs and visited the Shallow Ford Natural Area in Burlington. This Alamance Park has “190 acres of natural area with approximately 5 miles of hiking trails, paddle access to the Haw River, a Wildflower Meadow and Observation Deck, picnic areas, and backcountry camping.” We found it to be a fairly challenging hike even though we picked the easiest trail, but we really enjoyed it!
Because we were running out of daylight, we chose the Basin Creek Trail. As I mentioned, it was a little rougher terrain than we were expecting – short but steep drops, rocks that shifted under your feet, that kind of thing. Granted, in the trails defense, these things seem worse when you have a 55 pound dog pulling you around.
Halfway through the downhill trail, you are rewarded with a large wooden bridge over Basin Creek that is both beautiful and a great opportunity to cool off. If you decide to cross the bridge you would find yourself on the Homestead Trail, which is over 2 miles long, plus the distance to your car. There are very clear signs for each trail, but it’s easy to get distracted and end up walking much farther than you intended to, so please be careful!
I’ve come to realize I enjoy the spaces with some kind of body of water near them the most. Does the sound of a relaxing, flowing creek distract me from my lack of endurance? Maybe! Whatever the reason and luckily for me, most of the parks we’re visiting traverse the Haw River, so there’s usually some moving water nearby. When we visited the Shallow Ford Natural Area, the water was very low in the creek, which our little guy Macaroni really liked, so we took a moment to splash in it, cool off, and stalk the little fish. (I think Mack was excited to meet a creature smaller than him!)
I have written four of these columns so far, and this is the second one where I have to mention an unleashed dog. This time, another park-goers dog ran up to mine, barking and not listening to their owners when they called them back. There is only one rule regarding bringing your dog to any of the Alamance Parks — keep them leashed. It’s not because your dog isn’t great! I love your dog and I’ve never met them! These expectations exist to keep everyone safe, and its a pretty simple way to show respect for your fellow hikers and their pups.
A really great part of these experiences has been learning about so much of the unique history in Alamance! Each park we’ve visited or trail that we’ve been on carries a connection to the North Carolinians who came before us. When you visit these places around Alamance County, I encourage you to keep your eyes open for the historical landmarks as you drive to the individual parks, as well as the special markers while you’re there!
Other than the viewing deck of the wildflower meadow, most of the Basin Creek Trail was covered by trees, making for a nice shady walk. Now that the weather is cooling down, this isn’t an issue as much as previous installments of “Alamance Awaits” but we still made sure to wear appropriate clothing for a hike and to stay hydrated.
One more thing I’m not sure I’ve talked enough about is how well cared for these spaces are. There’s almost always bug spray for visitors to use, bags to clean up after our dogs, and even information pamphlets to take home with more information about the place we’re visiting. We’ve rarely found trash along the trails, the picnic areas are clean, and the landscaping is always taken care of. Thank you to Alamance Parks & Recreation for providing such lovely places to take our dogs and enjoy some time outside together.
We will see you very soon for another installment of Alamance Awaits, made possible by Alamance Parks.
