Falls Lake State Recreation Area
Falls Lake is a 12,000 acre lake, with 26,000 acres of surrounding woodlands, in northern Wake and Durham Counties that acts as a reservoir for Raleigh and other Wake County municipalities. The recreation area provides boating and hiking activities for residents of the Triangle and surrounding communities.
Prior to construction of the Falls Dam, flooding of the Neuse River caused extensive damage in the area. In the late 1970s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the dam, which was completed in 1981. The lake now serves as flood and water-quality control, water supply for much of Wake County, wildlife conservation, and a recreation area. The land surrounding the lake is owned by Army Corps of Engineers and the state park manages seven recreation areas on the lake.
Contact Information:
Falls Lake State Recreation Area
13304 Creedmoor Road
Wake Forest, NC 27587
Phone: (919) 676-1027
Email: falls.lake@ncparks.gov
GPS: 36.0117, -78.68882
Directions:
There are seven access areas that make up Falls Lake State Recreation Area, spread out around the lake.
Beaverdam Lake Day Use Area:
GPS: 36.04232, -78.69719
Beaverdam Lake Day Use Area is located off NC-50 a couple miles north of the Visitor Center. From I-540 in North Raleigh, take exit 9 for NC-50/Creedmoor Road and go north. Drive about 9 miles, passing the Visitor Center and crossing over the lake. Beaverdam Lake will be on the right, directly across from Sandling Beach Day Use Area.
Rolling View Recreation Area:
GPS: 36.00859,-78.72841
Rolling View Recreation Area is located off Baptist Road north of NC-98/Wake Forest Highway in Durham County. From Durham, take NC-98 west for about 5 miles and turn left on Baptist Road. Continue for about 4 miles to enter Rolling View Recreation Area.
Shinleaf Recreation Area:
GPS: 35.99387,-78.65939
Shinleaf Recreation Area is located off New Light Road north of NC-98/Durham Highway. From I-540 in North Raleigh, take exit 9 for NC-50/Creedmoor Road and go north. In about 5 miles, go right to get on NC-98 east towards Wake Forest. In 1.4 miles, turn left at the light onto New Light Road. The entrance to Shinleaf will be on the right in 0.6 miles.
Access Areas:
Beaverdam Lake Day Use Area:
Beaverdam Lake is a lake on a tributary of Falls Lake and is the only section of the lake where gas motors are prohibited. This makes it a nice place for non-motorized boating. In addition, there is a swim beach, picnic areas, a couple short hiking trails and the park's only mountain biking trails. It's a day use area, so no camping, but it is open year round.
Rolling View Recreation Area:
Rolling View Recreation Area has a swim beach, boat ramp, group and individual campsites and access to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
Shinleaf Recreation Area:
Shinleaf Recreation Area has hike-in campsites and group campsites. A section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail runs through Shinleaf.
Trails:
The longest trail along the lake, at almost 60 miles, is the Falls Lake Trail, a section of the statewide Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Most of this trail is through game lands managed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission, but about 4.5 miles of the trail runs through state park lands in various areas. See my Butner-Falls of Neuse Game Land page for more info on this trail. In addition to Falls Lake Trail, there are several shorter trails at the various recreation sites.
Duck Cove Trail:
Location: Beaverdam Lake Day Use Area
Length: 0.6 miles (one way)
Blaze: Orange Circle
Difficulty: Easy
Duck Cove Trail is the Beaverdam Area's TRACK Trail and leads through the forest to a wildlife blind at Duck Cove on Beaverdam Lake.
Fox Trot Trail:
Location: Beaverdam Lake Day Use Area
Length: 1.5 miles (loop)
Blaze: Orange Circle
Difficulty: Easy
Fox Trot Trail is a 1.5-mile loop through a mixed forest in the Beaverdam Lake area.
Mountain Bike Drop Zone:
Location: Beaverdam Lake Day Use Area
Length: 0.9 miles (loop)
Blaze: Orange Circle
Difficulty: Strenuous
Drop Zone is an optional loop that splits off from South Loop. This strenuous section has some steep drops to challenge the more advanced riders.
Mountain Bike Inner Loop:
Location: Beaverdam Lake Day Use Area
Length: 1.1 miles
Blaze: Yellow Circle
Difficulty: Moderate
Mountain Bike Inner Loop is an easy 1 mile loop accessed from the mountain bike trailhead at Beaverdam Lake Day Use Area.
Mountain Bike Outer Loop:
Location: Beaverdam Lake Day Use Area
Length: 2.2 miles
Blaze: Green Circle
Difficulty: Moderate
Mountain Bike Outer Loop is an easy to moderate 2 mile loop accessed from the mountain bike trailhead at Beaverdam Lake Day Use Area.
Mountain Bike South Loop:
Location: Beaverdam Lake Day Use Area
Length: 7.3 miles (loop)
Blaze: Blue Circle
Difficulty: Strenuous
South Loop is the longest of the mountain biking trails and can be accessed from West Loop across the street at the entrance station. Drop Zone is an optional loop that can be added.
Mountain Bike West Trail:
Location: Beaverdam Lake Day Use Area
Length: 2.3 miles (loop)
Blaze: Red Circle
Difficulty: Moderate
West Loop runs from the trailhead west out towards NC-50 and loops back around past the entrance station. South Loop can be accessed from West Loop.
Rolling View Trail:
Location: Rolling View Recreation Area
Length: 2.0 miles
Blaze: Red, Orange, or Blue Diamonds
Difficulty: Easy
Rolling View Trail is a 2-mile trail leading through Rolling View Recreation Area. Starting from the campgrounds, the trail crosses Baptist Road and leads to the swim beach. At the northeast corner of the parking area, the trail continues following Rolling View Track Trail then to the group campground and ends at the boat ramp.
Rolling View Track Trail:
Location: Rolling View Recreation Area
Length: 0.75 miles
Blaze: Blue Circles
Difficulty: Easy
Rolling View Track Trail is a three-quarter mile loop through a pine forest near the Rolling View swim beach.
Shinleaf Point Trail:
Location: Shinleaf Recreation Area
Length: 1.0 miles
Blaze: None
Difficulty: Moderate
Peninsula Trail is a 1 mile trail at Shinleaf Recreation Area; the hike-in campsites are all located off this trail. The trail starts behind the restrooms and follows an old road out onto the peninsula on the lake. The last campsite is about a half-mile down the trail. The peninsula is very narrow and you can see the lake on both sides of the trail. It ends at the end of the peninsula at a sandy beach.
Points of Interest:
Norwood Cemetery:
Norwood Cemetery is a small cemetery dating from the 19th century in Shinleaf Recreation Area. The cemetery is located along Falls Lake Trail just past the Shinleaf parking area.
Wildlife:
Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) can be found along Falls Lake.
Blog Entries:
07-Jan-2018: Frozen Falls Lake
29-Jan-2017: Little Lick Creek
External Links:
NC State Parks website: https://www.ncparks.gov/falls-lake-state-recreation-area
Mountains-to-Sea Trail website for Segment 10: https://mountainstoseatrail.org/segment/10/
Triangle Mountain Biking website for Beaverdam Lake: https://www.trianglemtb.com/beaverdam.php