Durant Nature Preserve — Attraction in Raleigh

They said they had opened the park, but when I went to the bathroom it was locked! Access to a bathroom is a very important thing for 75 plus citizens. There were also obstructions laying on the paved walkways. Very much a danger to anyone. Kids in the streams which is a great concern to me because of the copperhead snakes in the area. I personally have seen 4 while working in my yard this year. I live near by, I'm over 75 and want to enjoy my walks on the greenways,sidewalks and the park. However; between the people with pets on 25 foot leashes or in some cases no leash at all and bags of dog "poop" laying on boulders, or along side of the trails/sidewalks or more so not bagged and just left on the walkways leaving odors and slippery spots to anyone walking/running. Then there is the mess of cleaning one's shoes if you step in it. When will we require pet owners to teach their pets to go in a certain places in their own yards and not take them to others yards, the greenways, sidewalks etc... As a responsible pet owner for about 55 years, I would never have thought of deliberately taking my dog to any place...

The park is wonderful. It’s even advertised with lots of great fishing online. However upon arrival I was informed that you can only fish the two boat docks on the one side of the lake and that bank fishing is not permitted. Needless to say that kind of does not make for a great fishing trip.

I understand that some lakes are used as water supplies and they don’t want people bringing personal boats because it can introduce invasive species. However in most of these scenarios Parks will let you a) clean your kayak/canoe on site and then allow you to put in or b) offer a rental watercraft of some sort. It just seems lazy on the part of the county to run their lake this way. And to not allow bank fishing seems to be very trivial and leaves me puzzled.

Every time you buy fishing gear part of that tax goes to conservation efforts. I also donate money to conservation efforts, and I’m very mindful and respectful of the land I access in order to be able to fish. And it seems like the only people being singled out here at this nature preserve are in fact the fisherman. It’s...

NO LONGER DOG FRIENDLY!! I have been visiting this park for over a year only because it is very close to my house. I always come late in the evening and walk my dog on a leash. When and if I can find an empty area with no people I sometimes let her off the leash to throw a ball for her. Then I put her back on a leash to walk back to the car. My dog is extremely well behaved and never runs off. This evening at a park employee got up from a picnic table where he was hanging out with his friends to tell me that my dog has to always be on a leash. So if you want to throw a ball or ball for your dog do not...