Walnut Creek Wetlands Park #DiscoverRaleighParks

Confession: I’d never even heard of Walnut Creek Wetlands and I’ve lived in Raleigh most of my life. So, one day last week Jude, Noah and I set off on an adventure to discover another Raleigh park.

We headed to Walnut Creek Wetlands to check out the awesome center they have. The center overlooks the wetlands and has 3 classrooms where they hold special classes and educational activities throughout the year. There is also a very nice lobby area that is filled with educational toys and displays that help teach children and adults about the habitat, animals and the importance of the wetlands.

They had a tons of hands-on, kid-friendly materials like books, puzzles, stuffed animals, coloring sheets, and a whole table filled with nature and wildlife articles. The center employee was extremely friendly and taught us a lot about the wetlands, native plants and animals.

After we spent a good amount of time playing in the lobby we ventured outside. We walked along the rocking chair lined deck that overlooks the wetlands where I accidentally stepped on a cicada. It startled me when it made a loud buzzing sound beneath my foot. He was likely already close to death but I felt pretty bad because he was a beautiful turquoise color. I don’t really care for bugs but you have to admit he is sort of pretty…

We ventured down a short path into the wetlands where the sounds of hundreds of cicadas filled the air.

Before we left we learned about the water cistern on the property and the importance of water reclamation.

   

The Walnut Creek Wetlands Park is located at 950 Peterson Street Raleigh, NC 27610. They are open 1am – dusk Tuesday on Saturday and 1pm – dusk on Sunday.