If at first you don’t succeed, try again! Admittedly, after my ankle injury 2 months ago, I was a bit nervous to “try again” at Harris Lake - even equipped with the hiking boots I finally invested in. But I’m happy to report we survived and had a successful hike to the Womble Homesite historic area in the park! With the leaves starting to change and the weather cooling off, this is a great, short hike to get out and learn about some local history!
The Womble Homesite can be found on the last mile of the Peninsula Loop Trail - and trust us, watch our Instastories and grab a paper map from the park office for your hike so you don’t make the same mistakes we did when trying to find it on our first visit.
This historic area has remnants of the original Womble homestead, grape vines, a horse barn, and a recently rebuilt wash house (thanks to a 2015 Eagle Scout project). We highly recommend scanning the QR codes on the signs with your phone as it takes you to a fantastic little virtual history tour with information you would never been able to gleen from just looking at the area.
Harris Lake has much more than just this trail, though. You can also find a fantastic playground, picnic areas and shelters, a small butterfly garden and nature play area, mountain biking trails, a disc golf course, and, of course, access to the lake itself. Or if you’re feeling adventurous, you can even walk the entire 5 miles of the Peninsula Trail.
Bathrooms are open at the park and were nice and clean when we visited.
Our last tip for this park is, while not unmanageable, we’ve found the trails here to have more roots and things sticking up than at other parks. The park trails also get very muddy after a rain, so keep that in mind when planning your visit.
Have you been to Harris Lake County Park? Let us know in the comments!
(Note: We're currently working on updating our website with our reviews. This review was originally posted on Instagram and Facebook on October 19, 2020.)