Clarks Creek Nature Preserve

THU 2025.09.04 06:40, i was the first to arrive at the Preserve. parked and then headed out for a walk. The Preserve is a gem 🙌 Beautiful dawn lighting .. At the pond, chance met a man walking his Matilda; both were v friendly, we chatted for a few minutes, then goodbyes. A few minutes later, i had strayed off-trail .. came upon a "sketchy" water-crossing (Location approx: 35.35499,-80.80338) 🫣 between the Preserve and "Meck Trail". After careful "studying" the water-crossing, and seeing that it wasn't slippery, i very cautiously and s-l-o-w-ly on-all_fours crept and got over to "Meck Trail" (identified in Google_Map as: "Community Church Trail", Mecklenburg Community Church" ?? ). Then i continued my walk (CCW-Loop) through the neigborhood back to the Preserve. The neighborhood was nice and clean.

They need to update their map. The second half of the furthest flung trail they show on the map was just about impassable except with a machete or walking in the creek bottom. See attached image; shows their map and Google Maps GPS positioning plus the photo at that location (a bunch of brush). Would be absolutely impassable and full of ticks and snakes in the summertime!!!

I kind of want to keep this on the down low because I don't want it to get crowded but this place is absolutely gorgeous! Lovely trails to stroll hike through, the pond is really pretty, it looks so lovely with the leaves changing colors! Overall very clean there is a porta pot ,a playground, I'm really nice trails!

Awesome small nature preserve. The outer loop is only around 1.5-2 miles, but there are a lot of connecting trails. The majority of the preserve's trails run through grassland with a loop winding through the forest at the back, and there is also a pond on the property. The trails are mostly grass and dirt with a short section of gravel at the beginning. This is a great place to walk, run, and enjoy nature.

Great area. They have a wonderful playground. They have a splash pad. Tennis courts, picnic tables, a dog park area, across the street they have a natural area that you can hike.