Plan Your Visit to Reedy Creek Park

Reedy Creek is free and open dawn to dusk, pairing a 737-acre forest preserve with a busy park. Here's how to plan a nature morning, a hike, a round of disc golf or a family afternoon.

A nature morning with kids

Children playing on logs and stumps at the nature play area beside Reedy Creek Nature Center in Charlotte — The nature play area by the nature center.

Start at the nature center (Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.) for the exhibit halls and the habitat garden's bird feeders, then let kids loose in the hands-on nature play area. Staff at the desk can suggest an easy trail to finish on.

Hikers

Seven named trails wind through the preserve, mostly gentle with roots, rocks and a few short climbs. The stone ruins of the 1780s Robinson Rockhouse, listed on the National Register in 2009, make a good destination; get a trail map first, and don't climb on the walls or move stones.

Birders

A summer tanager perched on a branch in the forest at Reedy Creek Nature Preserve — A summer tanager in the preserve.

Early mornings in spring and fall migration are best. Look for warblers, tanagers and hummingbirds in summer, kinglets and sparrows in winter, and owls and woodpeckers all year. Check the nature center feeders before heading into the woods.

Disc golf, dogs and fishing

The free, wooded 18-hole disc golf course is one of Charlotte's oldest; bring extra discs, since the woods and creeks claim plenty. The fenced dog park requires vaccinated dogs, and dogs must be leashed outside it. Anglers 16 and older need a North Carolina inland fishing license for the pier.

Hours and contacts

Park and preserve: dawn to dusk daily; free entry.
Nature center: 980-314-1119 (it may close for holidays and special events).
Shelter and field reservations: Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation.