The way points of this bicycle route:
Ride begins outside NC Museum of Art. Nearby hotels: Homewood Suites Crabtree ($81+), 1 mi. north, and Ramada Inn Blue Ridge ($95+), 0.5 mi. south. Bike locks might be useful while sightseeing downtown.
Head east on paved bike path. All trails on today's ride are paved (asphalt or concrete).
Outdoor sculptures. Hit brakes as you approach fork in trail.
Turn right onto House Creek Greenway Trail.
Use brakes and caution as the trail winds around. Call "on your left" as you politely pass pedestrians.
Behold the $4 million bike-ped bridge. Stop and wave to drivers below.
Tunnel under Wade Ave.
Trail through Meredith College campus open during daylight hours.
Main entrance to Meredith College. To your right, across Hillsborough St, is Ben & Jerry's.
Trail ends. Bear right, carefully cross busy Hillsborough St and head south on Gorman St.
Over the NC Railroad tracks. Watch for Amtrak, freight trains.
As you turn left onto Sullivan, use 10' sidewalk trail, the Rocky Branch Greenway.
NC State Univ campus. Turn right onto Dan Allen Dr.
After crossing busy Western Blvd (one of Raleigh's longest stop lights), turn left onto paved sidewalk, the Rocky Branch Greenway.
Follow Bilyeu St. down to Western Blvd.
Cross Western Blvd. onto Pullen Park Dr.
Welcome to Pullen Park, a Raleigh classic. Park has a train ride, a restored century-old carousel, and a lake full of pedal boats.
Over the RR tracks again.
Right onto Hillsborough St.
Take left lane, bear left, continue east on Hillsborough St.
Left onto St. Mary's St.
Right onto Jones
Glenwood Ave., home to trendy restaurants and night spots.
Turn right at crosswalk onto Bicentennial Plaza. Where do we begin? Museum of Natural Sciences (can you say Acrocanthosaurus?) on the right, Museum of History on the left. Park the bikes and explore on foot. Or hire a pedicab and let someone else do the legwork.
When you're ready to move on, walk your bikes across Edenton St. toward the greenish dome of NC's 1840 state capitol building.
The Capitol's landscaping was designed by the Olmsted Brothers. Walk inside, look up at the rotunda.
Continue walking bike south to Morgan St., then ride onto Fayetteville St.
On the right at 220 Fayetteville St. is a red brick building, once Briggs Hardware. Now it's the Raleigh City Museum and Visitors Center.
Right onto Davie St.
Left onto Dawson St.
Right onto Cabarrus St.
Amtrak station on your right.
Near bottom of hill, turn left onto Saunders St.
After passing under highway bridge, watch for trail crossing.
Right onto Rocky Branch Greenway.
On campus of Dorothea Dix State Hospital, a pioneering NC institution.
Deja vu? Rejoin this morning's route, head back out to the Museum of Art (don't forget Ben & Jerry's along the way).
Welcome to Bikely, take a step by step tour of this path:
Press Start Tour - then use the navigation buttons below to move along the path.
Bike ride into downtown Raleigh. See the Capitol, the dinosaurs, the carousel, the ice cream. A mix of greenways (9.3 mi.) and city streets (4.0 mi.), total length 13.3 miles.
Tagged with: Recreational, Onroad, Basic, Offroad, Urban, Touring
