We finally made it out to Raleigh Parks’ newest park, River Bend Park! Opened in December 2020, this park has a playground and access to the Neuse River and surrounding greenways.
Unfortunately when we stopped by, the playground was unexpectedly fenced off. We spoke with Raleigh Parks and they have updated their website about the closure. The good news is the playground is expected to reopen April 1st! Per their website, it was closed for repairs to the squishy safety surface and for the installation of shade structures. (We did see the shade structures up and they looked very nice.) Peter was sad because the playground looked like a lot of fun, with a play set and some rock climbing structures, but it looks like we’ll just have to come back to fully test out the playground equipment.
Since the playground was unavailable, we went down to the river access and Peter had fun playing in the water and looking at all the rocks, which surprisingly housed a number of interesting critters like frogs and crickets. The river access point is also a kayak launch.
After playing there, we took a nice stroll on the greenway along the river. This would be a great place to bring scooters or bikes for a ride. In fact, by the bathrooms, there is a nice set-up with an air pump and tools in case your bike needs any fixing.
Have you been to River Bend Park yet? 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 March 31, 2021.)