Three times a week, Tom Hankins walks the trails at Old Creedmoor Nature Preserve with Buddy, his 80-pound Newfiedoodle. A few years ago, Hankins and his partner Stephen Eastman planned to build houses on 75 wooded acres off Old Creedmoor Road. Their civil engineer, Todd Meissner, rode the trails that cyclists had cut through those woods, and he brought them up. That conversation is why the woods are now a public preserve on Wake Forest's western edge and not a cul-de-sac.
The preserve opened on May 29, 2026, so this is its first fall as an official public space. It is also the first fall the old trails come with rules. For years the trail network was unofficial. Keeping it meant handing it to a land trust, and the land trust's rules decide which way you walk, whether the gate is open and what color you should wear. If you go out in October without knowing them, you may find yourself walking the wrong direction or facing a locked gate.
How 20 to 25 house lots became two loop trails
Triangle Land Conservancy says the property first came to its attention in 2020, when a developer reached out about the land's conservation and recreation value. TLC describes the site as once slated for more than 40 houses. Hankins and Eastman built homes on six lots along Old Creedmoor Road. They sold a seventh lot for the preserve's parking and sold the remaining 65 acres to TLC. Hankins told The News & Observer they sold at a bargain price, and that those acres would otherwise have become another 20 to 25 house lots.
"You know, you do your career and you look back and say, 'OK, what did I do that I am proud of?' So we gave up money to preserve this. But I am still personally getting some benefit, too." — Tom Hankins, speaking to The News & Observer
TLC paid $1.6 million for the land, using money from the City of Raleigh Watershed Protection Program and the Wake County Open Space Program. Another $312,000 paid for trail work and a gravel parking lot. That money came from Triangle Off-Road Cyclists, the state's Great Trails program, the Caterpillar Foundation and the Barnhill Family Foundation. TORC and Engineers Without Borders rerouted the sections most prone to erosion and added bridges.
Raleigh paid for part of it because of where the water goes. The preserve sits in the Upper Neuse River Basin, a 770-square-mile area that drains to Falls Lake. TLC says the basin provides drinking water to more than half a million customers in eight municipalities, Raleigh among them. Ed Buchan, Raleigh Water's watershed protection manager, told WRAL the site works as "an unmanned water treatment plant." The same goal of protecting water quality explains most of the rules that follow.
The day of the week decides your direction
The community-built origins still show on the ground. TLC rates the trails as intermediate, with steeper grades and more roots and rocks than its multiuse trails at Brumley and Williamson preserves. The official map names two loops: Orbweaver Loop at 1.7 miles and Lizard's Tail Loop at 1.4 miles. TLC describes the whole system as about four miles. The difference comes from alternate routes for bikes only, which are marked at trail intersections and can include small jumps.
Hikers and riders share both loops, and they travel in opposite directions so each can see the other coming. The direction depends on the day.
| Days | Bikes go | Walkers go |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday through Wednesday | Left | Right |
| Thursday through Saturday | Right | Left |
So a Saturday walker and a Sunday walker on the same loop see it in reverse. If you walk the same route every weekend, you'll know this rule better than anyone. The alternate bike routes are closed to foot traffic every day. Off those marked splits, riders should stay on the trail, and nobody should build new features. Riders must wear helmets, e-bikes are not allowed, and riders are asked to call out and slow down before passing.
Dogs are welcome on a physical leash no longer than six feet, and owners must carry the waste out with them. The waste rule also traces back to water quality.
A closed gate means the whole preserve is closed
The unofficial trails had no gate. The preserve has one, and it controls access for everyone. When the trails are too wet, TLC closes Old Creedmoor to hikers and mountain bikers alike. If the parking lot gate is closed, the preserve is closed, and TLC asks visitors not to park along the road to reach the trails. There is one parking lot, at 13509 Old Creedmoor Road, and the powerline right-of-way between the road and the gates is off-limits for parking.
TLC frames closures around whether the trails are too wet, during or after rain. It also warns that closures can last longer in winter, when cold weather and less evaporation slow drying. TLC adds that riding closed trails can do lasting damage and can make the closure last longer. On a day after rain, check before you leave home. The fastest places to look are TLC's trail status page and the trail status tracker from Triangle Off-Road Cyclists.
Plan for basics too. The preserve is open dawn to dusk and has no restrooms or drinking water, so fill bottles before you leave the house. As days get shorter through October and November, dusk comes earlier, and so does the end of your visit.
Fall brings hunting season next door
This rule belongs only to fall, and most first-time visitors won't expect it. The land next to the preserve is managed by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission as part of the state's Game Lands Program. Hunting is not allowed inside Old Creedmoor. TLC still asks walkers and riders to take extra precautions, such as wearing orange, during hunting season. The agency notes that North Carolina's hunting seasons generally run from September through December, plus April through May. That puts the entire fall trail season inside the window. The state's hunting regulations page lists specific dates.
The game lands are also closed to bikes. The WRC doesn't allow bike access on its property, so riders have to stay within the preserve. TLC says the preserve's hiking trails connect with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail around Falls Lake.
A fall visit, put together, comes down to a short checklist:
- Check the day. On Sunday through Wednesday, walkers go right. On Thursday through Saturday, walkers go left.
- Check the gate status online after any rain, using TLC's trail status page or TORC's tracker.
- Wear orange from September through December.
- Bring a leash no longer than six feet, plus water, because the preserve has none.
- Park only in the lot, never on the road or in the powerline right-of-way.
Two free fall programs on the calendar
TLC has scheduled two Old Creedmoor programs for this fall, and both are free.
On Wednesday, October 21, TLC is leading a night outing that heads out at dusk along the Lizard's Tail loop to look and listen for nocturnal wildlife. The event listing we saw didn't include a start time, so check TLC's events page before you go. Because it falls on a Wednesday, walkers will be going right.
On Sunday, November 8, from 10 a.m. to noon, trail guide Donna Agnew leads "Get Wild: FALLing for Trees!", a family walk for kids ages 5 and up and their adults. The program includes a tree scavenger hunt, a search for bugs and plants and leaf crowns, among the preserve's umbrella magnolias and sparkleberry trees. Preregistration is required. If registration is full, TLC keeps a waitlist through Meera Butalia.
Hankins told The News & Observer he still pictures how nice the house lots would have been. The preserve that took their place is free, it opens at dawn, and its full rules are posted on Triangle Land Conservancy's Old Creedmoor page.
At Greenwood Residential, we keep track of places like Old Creedmoor because they change how a part of town works, and the area along NC 98 between Wake Forest and Durham now has 65 acres of permanently protected woods. If you live nearby and want to know where your home stands in today's market, we're quick to answer and happy to talk it through. Get your free home valuation.
