Horseshoe Farm Nature Preserve — Attraction in Raleigh

This is a great open space park. If you just want a nice peaceful place to take a walk or just relax in a grassy field, this is your park. The park includes a great 1 mile grass trail around the park's boundary, a half mile circumference open field, an old farmhouse, and access to the Raleigh Greenway system. The park is also a popular place for photographers as I routinely see families having their pictures staged and taken. The only negative, there is no running water on site; the bathrooms, are waterless and there are no water fountains. UPDATE - a water fountain was recently installed at the old farm house. UPDATE 2019: Moving to a rare five star review for me. A new 1/2 mile wooded trail has been added that starts at the old barn and meanders down to the Neuse river before finally terminating back onto the grass trail at the bottom of the meadow. If you follow this trail plus the remaining perimeter trails, you'll be right at 1.25...

If you are looking for a quiet place in the heart of North Raleigh to enjoy nature, hike through wooded trails or simply fly a kite in a large open field, Horse Shoe Farm Park is the place to go. This beautiful park is tucked away down a quite, single-lane gravel road just off of US 401. The farm dates back for many years and the City of Raleigh has put out some interpretive history signs on the grounds. But what I like best is to head over there just after sunrise. In the quiet parts of the field near the horse shoe bend of the Neuse River, you'll frequently find deer grazing and many other animals on the edge of the woods. The recently opened Neuse River Trail, part of the Capital Area Greenway system, connects to opposite ends of the park. The city does have plans to make the final one-mile connection in 2014 and once they do, the greenway will stretch from Falls Lake Dam to Clayton, with a beautiful trip around Horse...

BE CAREFUL!!!!! I’m not holding it against the rating of the nature preserve but be careful if you park your vehicle here!!!!! I park here to go run and on 23Dec my car window was smashed and someone stole my purse and its contents. My purse was hidden in the vehicle. It happened around 1100-1130 in the morning. I’ll add they tried to use my bank card at a nearby grocery store, and I saw the surveillance footage. It was a large African American female, around 5’8”, approximately 200 pounds. Be careful and make sure nothing is visible in your car. I think the woman was staking out vehicles, because with the timeline, she broke into my car very shortly after I left it. Just be careful. This isn’t the first time this has happened at the preserve but it doesn’t look like there are any plans to add video cameras or enhanced features...