Museum Park

Encompassing 164 acres of fields, woodlands, and creeks, the Museum Park presents a unique setting to explore the intersection between art and nature. Encounter works of art by riding bicycles, walking dogs, or wandering along scenic paths. Step inside a cloud chamber. Picnic near towering and spinning works of art, or jog along wooded trails. Discover points of interest on trailside signs with information on art, plants, animals, and ecology. There’s always something new on the horizon: festivals, new commissioned sculpture, and work days and tours throughout the year. Visit the Park often and find your very own special connection.

Visit

There has never been a better time to explore the Museum Park! It is free and open daily, including holidays, from dawn to dusk. The Park is patrolled by Park staff, Museum security, and the State Capitol Police.

Please note: the Museum gallery building will be closed September 7, 2009–April 2010. During this time the Museum Park and trails will remain open to visitors. Restrooms and drinking fountains will not be available in the building during this time.

Parking

Parking is available in the lot near the East Building as well as in the Blue Ridge lot to the right of the Museum driveway. Both locations are near paved trailheads that lead directly into the Park.

Picnic Tables

The Picnic Area is available for lunch or snacks and may be used by individuals, families, and school groups. The picnic tables cannot be reserved—they are available on a first-come first-served basis. They are frequently used by school groups at lunchtime Tuesdays through Thursdays. The tables are located in the grove of trees beyond the back Museum parking lot, near the beginning of the paved Museum Trail. Locate them on the Museum Park map.

Park Rules and Regulations

The Museum encourages Park visitors to have a safe, rewarding experience. Rules are posted throughout the Park for the protection of visitors and the surrounding environment. Please help preserve and respect the Park’s natural resources, works of art, and other visitors by observing the regulations.

Stay on marked trails.
Do not disturb natural areas.
Bicycles are allowed on paved trails only.
Dogs must be leashed and are allowed on paved trails only.
Use the pet stations and clean up after your dog.
Picnic in designated areas.
Carry all of your trash out of the Park.
It is unlawful to possess firearms or other weapons on Museum grounds.
Consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited (except those dispensed by permitted staff during events in the Park Theater).

Trails

The Museum Park’s trail system leads visitors through natural areas and to commissioned works of art. Designed for hiking, walking, and jogging, the unpaved natural trails allow visitors to experience art and nature.

The Reedy Creek Greenway system is a paved multiuse pathway that runs through west Raleigh. The House Creek section of this greenway system in the Museum Park connects the eastern portion of the Park to Meredith College and North Carolina State University via the Reedy Creek Pedestrian Bridge. The House Creek Greenway connects the western portion of the Museum Park to Umstead State Park and Schenck Forest.

Museum Park trails are designed for different types of activity. Paved trails welcome bicycles and leashed dogs. Mulched and gravel trails are reserved for foot traffic. Visit and download the Museum Park map [LINK] before you visit.

Museum Trail | 4/10 mile | paved

This paved path connects the rear Museum parking with the Greenway. It passes a storm water retention pond used for student nature study. The pond is currently under renovation, but the trail remains open.

House Creek Greenway | 1 mile | paved surface, inclines

The Greenway winds through woodlands and across House Creek and then crosses the Raleigh Beltline via a pedestrian bridge. Along the way walkers and bikers discover monumental works of art that are unique in North Carolina. The Greenway continues eastward through the campus of Meredith College to Hillsborough Street and the North Carolina State University area. To the west the trail leads to Blue Ridge Road and extends to Umstead State Park via the Reedy Creek Greenway. The Greenway is a joint project of the Raleigh Department of Parks and Recreation, the N.C. Department of Transportation, and the Museum.

Woodland Trail | 4/10 mile | wood chip surface

The Woodland Trail lies in the Park’s nature preserve. It is an uneven mulched trail that is best used for foot traffic only. This path forms a loop that begins and ends on the House Creek Greenway near Martha Jackson-Jarvis’s sculpture Crossroads/Trickster I. A popular Woodland Trail destination is Chris Drury’s Cloud Chamber for the Trees and Sky.

Prairie Trail | 4/10 mile | crushed-stone surface

This former pasture has been restored as a Piedmont prairie. A gravel trail bisects the prairie, crosses House Creek, and returns to the Greenway through a section of forest bottomland.

Greenway Bridge

The longest pedestrian bridge in North Carolina (660 feet) spans the I-440 Beltline between the Museum Park and Meredith College. It is constructed in three 220-foot long sections, each a bow-string steel structure, set onto concrete bents or upright supports that were made with form liners in the pattern of stonework. The finials topping each of the bent columns are stainless steel and are lit with blue LED lights. The bridge joins sections of the Greenway Trail constructed by the State Department of Transportation, with assistance from the City of Raleigh.

Park Supporters

John Deere, Hunter Industries, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Fairway Outdoor Advertising, Lowe’s, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.