The County’s lease agreement with the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority is set to expire June 30 and portions of the park will not be included in a new lease with RDUAA. Park staff must therefore remove trail infrastructure in certain areas of the park where access and use will be terminated on June 30.

Wake County is actively working with RDUAA on a new lease over portions of Lake Crabtree County Park, including most of the original 33.19-acre park parcel. It is the intent of the County to maintain visitor amenities such as the park’s walking paths, picnic facilities, playgrounds, boat rental, fishing pier, volleyball courts, open play area and waterfront. The new lease will also include ingress and egress for the park’s Lake Trail connection to the Cary and Morrisville Greenway network. The Lake Trail will also take users to the mountain biking trails on the 286 property.

Although the Lake Crabtree trails will close, great biking opportunities remain nearby. Check out these alternative trails that are part of the Wake County Parks, Recreation and Open Space system:

• 286 Trails – Adjacent to Lake Crabtree, this network offers similar terrain and experiences. Cyclists can create a 10-mile biking experience by taking the Lake Trail to 286, riding the legal trails there, and then returning to Lake Crabtree.
• Harris Lake County Park – Miles of wooded trails designed for beginner and intermediate mountain bikers.
• Green Hills County Park – A hidden gem with single track and natural terrain in North Raleigh.
   

Other networks include:

• Beaverdam State Recreation Area (NC State Parks)
• Briar Chapel
• Brumley Nature Preserve (Triangle Land Conservancy)
• Carolina North Forest
• Carolina OEC
• Forest Ridge (City of Raleigh)
• Little River Park (Durham / Orange Counties)
• New Light Trails (NC Wildlife Resources Commission)
• RTP Mountain Bike Trails
• Williamson Preserve (Triangle Land Conservancy)

Yes, Wake County is finalizing a concept plan for what an expansion of the trails might look like. We’re also in discussion with North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation about the use of a portion of Umstead State Park for the expansion. There is currently no timeline for this expansion.

The Crabtree Creek Watershed Project began in the 1960s with the purpose of preventing loss of life and property damage, and manage sedimentation and erosion caused by flooding within the Crabtree Creek Watershed. This project created lakes on Crabtree Creek and some of its tributaries. Lake Crabtree is one of these lakes.

Wake County owns most of the land covered by Lake Crabtree. The County has flood easements on land the County does not own that allow the lake to hold back water and release it slowly downstream in the event of storms.

In 1985, Wake County leased 33.19 acres of land adjacent to Lake Crabtree from the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority to develop Lake Crabtree County Park, and the park opened in 1988. Other lakes in the Crabtree Creek Watershed Project were also utilized as recreational amenities including Bond Lake in Cary, and Shelly Lake and Lake Lynn in Raleigh.

In 1994, Wake County amended its lease with RDUAA adding an additional 148 acres and allowing Wake County to offer mountain biking. This trail network, which became one of the first sanctioned mountain bike trail networks in the county, will close on June 1.