Prolific environment with abundant color schemes. Kid and dog friendly. The air is simply still which allows minimum effort to listen for wildlife critters. Visited ends of November and enjoyed this weekday forest gateways with family.

This is a great park for hiking and walking. The trail is easy with some ascents and descents. Its a rustic trail blanketed with pine needled and mulch all throughout. The canopy is high providing nice shade and ambience.

Nice to see beautiful trails right in the middle of Cary. Easy access to parking. Couple of short easy trails. Few places where you have stairs but nothing crazy and most active people can easily climb those. Shouldn’t take you more than an hr to cover all trails.

Awesome place for a short, scenic hike. The trails are well traveled, maintained and free of large roots and litter. Beautiful wildlife too.

Great double-loop trail in shady woods. Easy mulched path is kid and dog friendly. One path is relatively flat, the other dips down to Swift Creek with boardwalks and stairs. Awesome weekday forest escape, a patch of NC mountain right in the middle of suburbia.

This is a beautiful nature preserve near the South tip of where Cary NC intersects with Apex that offers three fantastic walking trails each of differing levels of difficulty. The trails are well maintained, the walks are beautiful at all times of year, the nature center and facilities are first class. Visitors looking for a pleasant hour of trail walking should look no further than Hemlock Bluffs.

Beautiful place to do a nature walk! The lower trail was so quiet and peaceful (upper ones were noisy with nearby traffic). The terrain was soft and spongy under my feet due to recent rains.

Nice walking trails. Took about 1h to do all of them. Parking was a little tight on a Sunday at noon. People had to park on the side of the road. Well kept place. Easy trails for the most part but there are stairs on one part of the trail.

Nice place for a little hike, theres some stairs to deal with. Lots of squirrel, and I saw several deer.

There are some nice but short hikes here. Close to Cary and Apex and convenient just to get away for a bit. Chestnut Oak Loop is easy, lots of families. The other loops have some stairs to climb up and down the bluffs. Informational signs marking different aspects of the park.

Great place to walk a little in the woods and along a stream, with a restroom facility and kids natural play area.

I have been going to this park for years and it still has some of the most enjoyable trails. I also took classes here when I was a kid that were very educational and exceptionally enjoyable which peaked my interest in the outdoors. The staff is very caring and knowledgeable about the nature and are more than happy to answer all your questions. Also the people on this park are very respectful and leave it clean.

A nice place to go walking. The map is helpful, but no signs on the path, so difficult to know where youre going (or which walking path youre on). Woodsy and a little bit of nature.

Nice trails. The signs are clear all over. Parking area easily accessible. Good to bring the kids and to walk dogs. Lot of fun activities especially for the kids. Check out the website for the activity lists.

Nice trails, beautiful trees... descent preserve

Loved this nature preserve and its great overlooks! Nice mulch trails with scenic over looks on decks throughout. You get a really good leg workout because of the trails going up and down . There are also stairs at the steeper points. Chestnut Oak Loop is 1.2 mi. Beach tree Cove loop trail is.9 mi. Swift Creek Loop, Trail is.8 mi. Open 9 AM to sunset. My fitness tracker said I climbed 16 flights of stairs and walked 2.5 miles.

Its very clean and beautiful right in Town. I love hiking here because its a quiet place and right down the road on where i live. Every time i walk i can see deer and other wildlife running around. The trails also make loops so it can be easy to run and keep track on your miles. The trails are mulched too, which is one of the few parks here in the triangle that maintains their trails so well.

I loved hiking here. So shady that its cool even on hot days. Softer trails are easier on my feet.

A delight and surprised us by the trail.. pleasant walk along the hemlock bluff.. we will definitely be back ️

Great trail with overlooks and views. There are educational tours for visitors as well. Hemlock Bluffs is a natural marvel and everyone should visit at least once.

Great hiking trails. Soft, not a lot of rocks or roots. In the shade the whole time.

Beautiful area with many nice walking trails. Restrooms open after 10am

Very nice and shaded. Really enjoyed the beautiful woods.

Awesome trails, I got to see a Lablolly pine tree up close for the fist time which was amazing and, I saw a black and yellow millipede on the trail as well as two cicadas mating around the entrance of the park. But, being a 61 Hispanic male with brown skin, there were some folks weary of my presence on the trails in which made me feel uncomfortable. Overall, the experience was quite nice minus the few folks that looked at me sideways..

Great spot for a quick hike. Short, easy to walk trails in the forrest.

Beautiful little nature in heart of Cary.Great place for kids and seniors to walk

This is a nice nature park with some some very large trees. There are nice hiking trails, but they are very long. A few nice sets of stairs to decks where you can get a better vantage point of the forest. Pretty cool and the kids enjoyed it. Hikable by a 5 year old with minimal carrying.

GREAT park. Do not understand why it opens at 9AM but restrooms dont open until 10AM?

Nice quiet little getaway secluded from the urban city by trees. Parking can be tight, and some trails are close to roads and parks, so not quite as quiet as I was hoping. Still pretty peaceful and some pleasant forest views.

Beautiful space with well maintained trails and a nature center. I love that its dog friendly too!

Great gem tucked away in Cary. The preserve has 3 trails you can choose from. Everything else is COVID closed as of writing. It was steamy today, but down in the trees/shade it wasnt nearly as bad. Tons of birds, squirrels and bugs for our kids to see.

Well maintained for hiking or running.

A nice, quiet, forest trail with lots of shade. Be prepared for lots of hills and stairs, but no bikes.

So this is a nice place to hike. I say that because I only did a small portion that was mostly flat. We have 2 small children (less than 5 yrs) and didnt know how they would handle any moderate hiking. We saw very little wildlife other than squirrels. We did see a black snake, otherwise nothing. Take LOTS of bug spray. The misquoted were terrible....we couldnt stop at all or wed be covered. Maybe would suggest this only for older kids that may enjoy just being outdoors.

It is a great place to escape the city for a little while. There is a nice trail for hiking, you can take your dog for a walk. Is a forest with tall trees and lots of shade.

It was beautiful.. Lots of stairs and narrow pathways. Walkways very slippery when wet. Great views of nature.

Hard to believe you are in the middle of Cary when you are walking here. Very beautiful.

It didn’t really feel like we were in the nature. I went with my family and the trails were so well made it was boring. We weren’t even really able to see much. We could hear the creek but couldn’t get close enough for pictures. The only good part was that the kids got exited to see a squirrel.

I absolutely love taking nature walks and hikes with my family its a great way to see nature and get fresh air at the same time, with the craziness of Covid-19 it is great to be able to leave the house for a moment even if we have to practice social distancing while we are out.

Love this place, nature and clean fresh air.Enjoy marching by this beautiful location.

Short trail but its a good one!

Great trails and we saw two deer cross the path in front of us!

Very nice place to walk. Theres hiking for people of all ages and different levels of physical activity. Love the wild life and a good place to get away from the world.

This is a lovely little preserve. Its incredibly well maintained and has a total of about 2.8mi of trails. Its hilly enough to be challenging with good stairs for a leg workout and plenty of lookouts to stop and rest, stretch, or do a quick workout. Ample parking, bathrooms are always clean.

One of Carys best natural parks! Not a playground-type park, but does have a small area for under 5s to play on balance beams, mushroom path, log tunnel, miniature cabin, and a telescope (ask them to find the birds affixed to various trees). Overall, its a perfect place to take a beautiful walk or jog, if thats your thing, no matter the season. A place to reconnect with nature and appreciate the unique bluffs and Eastern Hemlocks that grow there.

Great outdoor walking trails and play area for little kids. Alot of dog walkers.

Absolutely beautiful!! The trails are well maintained, the visitor center is informative and interactive, and its an overall excellent place to explore nature!

Hemlocks is on par with everything Cary: super clean and well maintained! Having been to many of the parks/preserves in the area, I was very impressed with this park and its trails, as everything is clearly marked (maps provided) and kept in great shape (parts of trails are covered and marked by mulch!). This is a great park for an afternoon walk or weekend adventure!

Nice shaded hike with some challenging hills and stairs on portions. Restrooms are open.

Everyone at Hemlock Bluffs is so friendly, and helpful. I trust them to provide excellent health care and to always be kind and gentle with my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Dr. Snyder is intelligent, thorough, and knowledgeable. I recommend Hemlock Bluffs wholeheartedly.

Nice trial for the rookie hiker, small children, or if you want to look at viatas. There is an education info center, and lots of things to engage kids in nature. Lots of parking. Not the place to get hearty exercise.

Very enjoyable walk and seeing the birds, squirrel and deer especially the fawns.

Beautiful trails! Fun little natural style playground. Tucked away off of busy Kildaire Farm Rd but in the preserve you wouldn’t know it. Only potentially difficult area to navigate is the load of steps if you take the trail to the right.NOTE: If it is warm- please apply bug spray. The area has an active and thriving mosquito population.

Trails are nice. The area has lots of mosquito. Dont forget to take bug spray.

Very well maintained trails

Nice walk on the lower Swift Creek loop trail with Aki (Shiba Inu). Today we saw a couple of deer, just as we came off of the plank walkway near the creek.

Small but very pretty nature area. Well kept, easy to follow paths with good chance to see some deer or other wildlife. Great for kids or just to get out for a nice walk.

Beautiful set of short trails in a nice part of Cary. Definitely with a short hike!

Great views and cooler on the trails in lower elevations. Bring mosquito spray though!

This park has about 3.5 miles of hiking trails, a play area and nature center / classrooms. The trails are well maintained and offer some nice views. Its a good place to walk your dog as they have trash cans on all the trails. It can get crowded on the weekend.

Good place to spend couple of hours walking in the woods.

Great place to work on a sunny day, the natural tree shade being as it is. Its bumpy, but I managed to walk our dog and baby in his stroller!

This is a very special place with incredible energy. I hate to recommend going off trail as Im sure the facility would not approve, but there are some extremely interesting places throughout the property. Quartz outcropping and steep topography. I know you will enjoy it!

The Nature Preserve is so beautiful, and the trails are excellent. It really makes you forget there are busy streets anywhere near by. We took our dog for a great walk, and met a few nice people along the way. Even though there was a bit of snow on the ground, it still made for a great bit of exercise. I am excited to see what the other seasons look like!

Beautiful place to visit for a quick trip to nature.

Wonderful little park. Very shaded with easy trails (excluding a section of stairs). Museum/nature center is small but has some fun nature exhibits illustrating animals in their habitats. Trails are very well maintained and mulched. Hemlocks have a pretty neat story - not typically present in locations like this. Highly recommended for a fun nature filled afternoon.

Great walking trails with pictures and signs along the way pointing out interesting things for the kids to learn. Nice lodge and nature center buildings as well. Convenient location in Cary with ample parking.

Great Nature Preserve with winding paths. Good for walking your dog.

Always a pleasure coming here for a walk. Fresh air and a chance to stretch your legs. I cant believe this preserve in the middle of a busy city such as Cary.

Great walking trails and dog friendly!

A range of trails through the Bluffs take you through wondrous quartz formations and majestic trees. The location boasts a very good visitors center and education facility. A State Parks and City partnership.

Beautiful area but if youre a runner, which I am it isnt that large. Understandably that is not the purpose of the park. Great for kids!

Nice area to hake walks on some very well maintained trails. Have hiked there several times.

Hiked all the trails today. The trails all have a base of mulch. This makes it soft and keeps the pine roots buried. Very clean and well taken care of Park. Dogs are permitted and must be on leash. All bridges, steps and walkways are in great condition.

Beautiful natural scenery with lots of great educational opportunities for the public. Might be a good place for field trips.

Favorite place for a stroll in the park in Cary. Always beautiful and relaxing.

Great trails well maintained

Awesome trek thru nature preserve. Not technical hike at all. Well defined, well maintained paths. Fun nature center. Clean bathrooms.

Great places for walks. Well manicured trails. They also host nature and some historical exhibits. The 125 acre park is a joint venture with the Town of Cary and the NC State park system.

Great shaded trails, clean, not crazy buggy.

Nice, several different trails (length/time). I dont think it ever gets crowded.

Nice wetland area. It has a boardwalk. I will come back here when the weather gets warmer and see what type of wildlife can be found.

Very nice and cozy little trails. Great for some fresh air and good scenery to relax.

Amazing information and fun for all ages. We had kids as young as 2 who were able to take a walk through the park.

I only had about a day to explore Raleigh / Durham, and Im really glad I made it to Duke Gardens! Everything was in full bloom in late June. Admission is free, you just have to pay for parking ($2 an hour). Truly a steal considering the amount of maintenance that must go into these gardens!

Nice place. Well maintained trails.

This is a great place to bring dogs for a long or quick walk. The trails are mostly shaded, making it great for very sunny days. There are a lot of stairs on some of the trails, so check the website to find which trails are stair-free if needed. The nature center is great for kids and at times has live music. Make sure to bring bags for your dogs. There are some available if you forget. You can also leave some for others in the bag boxes if you have extra.

Beautiful scenary while walking on clouds!

Fantastic place for a long beautiful walk/run/jog and a very interesting and informative center about nature and the history of this wonderful place. Its also very clean. No trash anywhere.

A serene getaway with out the long drive

Great little educational museum and very well kept trails. Highly recommend this as a place to spend an afternoon.

Love the peacefulness here and lots of shade.

Well kept for nice stroll. I take my toddler

Great place for a walk. Trails are well maintained and there are actually hemlocks along the way.

I love this place. The trails arent to long. My kids 3,5,7 have been hiking here for a couple years.Bathrooms only open during business hours. So we plan ahead.

Beautiful woods walk

Awesome hemlocks, chirping birds and the sound of the creek! What more would you want?

Beautiful and well maintained .. I love that they allow us to walk our dogs there.

1 to 3 mile easy wooded trails. Trails are covered with wood chips... Easy walking or jogging.

I wonderful place to walk especially when the leaves are changing. Our family of 4 had a great time on the Swift Creek Loop Trail.