Raven Rock State Park - Fish Traps & Little Creek

Given that it was my first day off this year that was sunny and above 85 °F, I decided that it would be inexcusable not to do something outdoorsy that involved water. Plus, Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial beginning of summer, so I had to kick it off somehow (other than sitting around my apartment working on backburner projects). I left off last summer wanting to check out “Raven Cliff Gorge” at Upper Creek, but that’s probably too treacherous to do alone, and everyone I know is busy this weekend, so I decided to opt for the other, less interesting raven: Raven Rock State Park. As I decided after my first visit, Raven Rock is no mountain paradise, but it’s the best surrogate within 60 miles of the Triangle (at least from what I’ve found so far). Last summer, I went to Lanier Falls (which is a rapid, not a legit waterfall) and Raven Rock proper, but there were still a couple of places I wanted to check out: the Fish Traps rapid (the one you can see from the Raven Rock overlook) on the Cape Fear River and the Little Creek Trail.

( Click here for the full trip report with pictures and videos )

My thoughts on Fish Traps were basically the same as for Lanier Falls: it’s aesthetically pleasing and a good place to catch some sun on the rocks, but it’s not good for actual swimming. The water is deep enough in some places that you can sit down to fully immerse yourself if you want to cool off, but that’s about it. Between Fish Traps and Lanier Falls, I would opt for Lanier Falls for swimming, since it actually does have one spot that is deep enough to swim (although you have to watch out for submerged rocks). Although swimming opportunities are limited, the Cape Fear River is really pretty in a lazy-and-lush-with-the-occasional-small-rapid sort of way, and I would love to go canoeing on it sometime. Lanier Falls and Fish Traps would both make good lunch stops on a canoe trip.