One of my favorite things about living in North Carolina is that 10 months out of the year it is warm enough that I can be doing something active outside. When I bought my house in Brier Creek last year, one of the first things I did was find new places to take my dog Elvis, my favorite jogging companion, on our daily adventures.
It was by accident that I found the RTP Trails while running errands one afternoon. I looked them up to check out online and was so excited to see that there are 17 MILES of beautiful paths for hiking, running. If I decided to get adventurous and get out my mountain bike, I can also take on the 4 miles of mountain biking trails.
Elvis and I decided to get some exercise one weekend and headed to RTP, which is a 5-minute drive from Brier Creek. I randomly chose a trail, unfortunately not the trail that identifies all the trees along the way, and we had a blast, he sniffing every plant and me checking out how well maintained, bright and beautiful my surroundings were.
For a Saturday afternoon, there weren’t many people on the trail. We passed some other dogs, whom Elvis made friends with and I nodded hello to a few runners wearing ear buds. The trail being not at all crowded was great since Elvis had plenty of room to wander and I didn’t have to worry about him in a runners’ way.
If you are looking to change up your scenery outside for your runs, these trails come highly suggested. The two links below are for the running and then biking trails. If you see Elvis and me out there, make sure you say hello!
https://www.rtp.org/sites/default/files/Recreation_2013.pdf
https://www.rtp.org/sites/default/files/RTP_MTB_Ph1-2_small.pdf