PHOTO & ILLUSTRATION CONTESTS

The Annual Photo Contest - Catch the Spirit of William B. Umstead State Park” feature photography of the Park, its structures and nature, so get out your cameras, pick out your best shots and submit an entry to our contest.  Entry categories:

• Footprints: people doing Park activities
• Stories in Stone: remnants and structures of the Park history
• In the Wild: Park flora and fauna
• Youth: Age 16 and under

The Annual Illustration Contest - Catch the Spirit of William B. Umstead State Park” showcase some of the wonders of Umstead State Park using graphic illustrations. 

Winners are featured in an annual calendar and Exhibit at the Park Visitor Center.

The deadline for the 2021 contest is June 27, 2021. View Past Winners>>

Register now

New Book! The Mushrooms of Umstead State park

We're excited to announce that a new book about mushrooms in Umstead State Park is now available for purchase online ($49).

The Mushrooms of Umstead State Park is a mushroom photo-book with up to date (as of publishing) scientific names and relevant details of morphology. This book is intended as a basic guidebook to orient interested folks in identifying the wild and varying fleshy fungi of Umstead State Park and the surrounding Piedmont region from a long time naturalist (mycology and entomology) and PhD. With some 400 author shot photos of specimens all existing in Umstead State Park, Raleigh, NC.

You can purchase a Kindle edition on Amazon or you can purchase a PDF version via The Umstead Coalition. 

Note: All proceeds go to the author, Geoff Balme, to cover his costs to product this amazing work.

PURCHASE NOW

Solar Panels for the Umstead State Park Visitor Center

The solar panels have been installed! We strive to make William B. Umstead State Park a place that people can come and learn how to make the environment in which they live cleaner, healthier, and more natural. And to practice what we preach, we wanted offset some of the electricity we use with power from the sun.

The 5kw solar photovoltaic (PV) system not only produces electricity for the Visitor Center and helps reduce our dependence on energy derived from fossil fuels, but also provides an educational component for the public to learn about renewable energy.

A small wall mounted tablet delivers real time solar energy production data to visitors and allows park staff to educate the public about the system and the benefits of solar power. Southern Energy Management, a local B-corporation with nearly 1000 solar installations under their belt, was our partnering contractor.

Butterfly Wildflower Gardens

We installed two butterfly wildflower gardens to provide habitat or “Monarch Way stations for migrating Monarch butterflies.  William B. Umstead State Park is the migration route of the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). 

Two small sites selected for the butterfly wildflower gardens are along the most popular walking route from the parking lot to the bathhouse and picnic areas. High visibility to the majority of visitors will enable encouragement to create Monarch butterfly habitat in their yards as well.

The installation of the Monarch butterfly gardens was concurrent with the forest rain garden installation and entirely installed by volunteers.

Forested Rain Gardens / Bioretention Areas

We installed innovative stormwater BMP of forested bioretention cells (rain gardens) within a 210 space parking lot median at William B. Umstead State Park.

The parking area that drains to the stormwater control measure is 1.3 acres, of which 1 acre is impervious. 

This project will result in several environmental and user benefits, including:  reduced runoff volume and intensity of stormwater runoff due to the infiltration into special soil media we will install in the medians. 

The native trees and shrubs will provide much needed shade in the hot, steamy parking lot.  The shade will also reduce the thermal impact to the downgradiant streams. 

More information:  

• Forested Rain Garden
• Site location and Design Schematics

Cedar Ridge Trail is Open with Rerouting

The Cedar Ridge multi-use trail at William B. Umstead State Park is now open again with upgrades and re-routing. The 1.4-mile gravel trail did not currently meet the standards of other multi-use trails in the park.

The repairs and re-route bring the trail up to current multi-use trail standards using sustainable trail construction standards including grade reversals, rolling dips, water turnouts to minimize erosion, and granite screenings to the top surface. Improved ditching will be added in some sections and bench cuts were used for sections that are re-routed. 

This project was made possible by a grant through the Umstead Coalition from the NC Recreation Trails Program with match assistance from The Umstead Coalition, volunteers, the Umstead 100, Carolina Godiva Tract Club, NC Road Runners Club, Great Outdoor Provision Company and Park staff. 

See the Cedar Ridge Reroute Concept Map and Trail Grade Reversal Technique.

Triangle I-40 Bikeway (along I-40)

The Triangle I-40 bikeway  will connect the Trenton Road Greenway to RDU Forest and Davis Drive (RTP- Triangle Park Center). This missing link would enable bike/ped connections from downtown Raleigh to RDU and RTP.  It will enable connections to many of the area's major greenways, including: Black Creek, Reedy Creek, House Creek, Rocky Branch, Walnut Creek, American Tobacco Trail, Crabtree Creek, and the Neuse Greenways.  In addition to the regional/national East Coast Greenway and NC 2 (Mountains to Sea) and US 1 (Carolina Connection) bike routes.

AND, the Triangle Bikeway would serve as a vital connection to the RDU Forest trail system at Lake Crabtree County Park, RDU Airport, and Umstead State Park via the Old Reedy Creek Road Corridor.

More information and status: Triangle I-40 Bikeway