Little River Regional Park and Natural Area — Attraction in Hillsborough

If you're coming from Durham or Chapel Hill, Little River is out of the way, but worth the trip. Our kids are pretty discerning about park space ("I want this! I don't want that!") and they ask us to drive ~30 minutes to this park. There's enough variety to keep them engaged for a few hours. Cell reception is spotty, making for an excellent opportunity to slow down a little and just enjoy nature/company. Coming from Chapel Hill, the big thing here is that the bathrooms have soap.

For the kids, there's a small playground (three slides, monkey bars, and some ladders) and a good-sized meadow for kicking a ball, flying a kite, what have you. The playground can hold our kids' attention for maybe twenty minutes, then it's off into the woods.

There's a broad, mostly flat trail leading from the parking lot/playground/picnic area down toward the river (it turns into singletrack at the bluff over the river, then descends to the river). The first 2000' have signs for the [dwarf] planets of the solar system. Make it 150' and you'll get through the asteroid belt, ~250' gets you to Jupiter, and then another 10 minutes to Pluto. For us, it's playground first, then walk past the planets, then...

If you're taking a kid, there's basically endless singletrack here. A grown-up could spend a few hours, too. Just past Pluto there's a small path leading to a small bridge over a small creek, full of rocks to toss and sticks to poke bugs with. Highly recommended. If you're more adventurous, you can follow the broad trail ~1mile down to Little River, and have a snack while you take in the scenery. Lots of little bridges on the loop back to the main trail, perfect adventuring for little ones.

For the grown-ups, the trail running is excellent, there are (respectful) mountain bikers everywhere, and there's shade/sun to sit as you see fit. Never a bad time at...

Riding MTB at LRRP is like being in a nightmare, that you know is a nightmare, but you can't wake up from. Or like, the movie 'The Perfect Storm' where the clouds break apart and the fishermen think that they are going to make it, but then the clouds close back over them and they realize that they are totally screwed and are going to die. My dad used to tell me stories when I was a kid and the phrase "uphill both ways" found itself used in many of those stories. LRRP managed to bring "uphill both ways to fruition... If you are looking for some fitness training, this is the place for you! Flowy,... it is not... However, I give this amazing piece of heaven 5 stars because it is truly phenomenal. A beautiful park with amazing property and great hiking trails. My kids have been coming here since they were stroller age. They are teenagers now and we have some amazing memories at LRRP....

This park has it all, a playground for children, hiking trails, and unlike most nature preserves even restrooms. When you enter the park you have to look around to find the entrance to the trails, follow the paved path. It may seem that things are not well marked, but once you enter the forest and pass the planetary walk (plaques of all the planets) you will see all the trails marked very clearly. The River loop is a little longer than it says but still very manageable. It'll be an easy hike for even beginners. There's a nice flat path once you get down the hill that goes along the river. In the summer, it's going to be extra muggy near the water. A review on a hiking website said it was one of the top 10 trails in the Durham area. I disagree but it is certainly worth a visit. Trails along the Eno are much more scenic, and I'm not sure why it's called a river it's smaller than...