Upcoming Time Changes!

Lake Crabtree County Park will begin closing at

8 pm on Tuesday, September 6th and at 

7:30 pm on Monday, September 26th. 

Keep an eye out for future announcements as our closing time changes to keep up with sunset. Reminder that boats will need to be off the water 30 minutes before the park gates close.

Boat Rental Schedule Updates!

Our free Boat Rental season is coming to a close on the weekend of September 17th and 18th. Stop by on Saturdays and Sundays from 10-6 pm to check out a canoe, kayak, standup paddleboard, or pedal boat and explore Lake Crabtree. Boats are available on a first come, first served basis. Visit our Boat Rental Page for more details. Check out this document for the current schedule. 

TACO Week

Take A Child Outside week is an annual event from September 24th-30th created by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and inspired by Richard Louv's book "Last Child in the Woods." The idea is to help connect children with nature and celebrate opportunities to play outside, highlighting locations that offer places to have fun experiences in the natural world. Lake Crabtree County Park is proud to be one of those sites! We are offering several fun, outdoor programs that week starting with a Mushroom Hunt! We also will be offering a nature hike to look for clues left behind by animals at Animal Investigators. We hope to see you stop by and have your family connect with nature at Lake Crabtree County Park during TACO Week!

Crabtree Nature Crafts



Next time you bring the kids out to the park to enjoy the playgrounds, trails, or other facilities, be sure to stop by the Manager's Office for a free craft! Look for signs posted at the restrooms and playgrounds indicating that the craft is available that day (generally Mondays through Thursdays from 10 am to noon). 

Each month we will feature a different craft and theme. This month's feature is leaves! Stop by to make your very own leaf press craft.

Come Fish at Lake Crabtree!

Lake Crabtree County Park is a member of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission Tackle Loaner Program. Through this program, visitors who have a valid NC fishing license may check out a pole from park staff. If you're interested in checking out a fishing rod, stop by the Park Manager's Office from Monday to Friday when staff is available, or the Boat Rental Facility on weekends through September 18th. 

We also have adaptive fishing gear for anglers with disabilities. Call the office to ask about our assistive equipment.

UPCOMING PARK PROGRAMS 

Come out to Lake Crabtree and discover more about the natural world while exploring the park. Click the links (program titles) for more details and to register. Spaces are limited to allow for social distancing at in-person programs, so register today. For a full listing of all programs visit our website.

All public programs are FREE!

Lake Crabtree also offers group programs! If your group is interested in booking a program, contact Colleen Bockhahn at colleen.bockhahn@wakegov.com.

In-Person Programs for Everyone

Nature Nerds: Turtles

Friday, September 2nd from 1-2 pm

Expand your knowledge of our local flora and fauna by exploring a different area of the park each month. Join park staff as they "nerd out" over a different group of animals, plants, fungi or other living things. Help collect data for our Biodiversity Project on iNaturalist while increasing your own identification skills. This month we will be focusing on turtles! Join us for some turtle trap checking!

Ages 10 and up.

Mushroom Hunt (TACO)

Saturday, September 24th from 1-2:30 pm

Explore the mysterious world of mushrooms by joining park staff on a hunt through the forest for fungi. Did you know we have fairy circles and glow-in-the-dark mushrooms in the park? Learn some of the common families of mushrooms in our area, and help document the species we have in the park by taking photos and collecting specimens to identify.

Ages 8 and up. 

Parks for Pollinators

Wednesday, September 28th from 10 am-1 pm and

Friday, September 30th from 10 am-1 pm

September is Parks for Pollinators month! Learn the importance of our local pollinators and how you can help conserve them. Stop by our activity tent at the floodplain anytime between 10 am and noon to participate in a variety of activities for all ages. For adults, we have ID sheets and other resources you can use to observe pollinators and help us collect photos and data for the Parks for Pollinators iNaturalist project. For kids, we have scavenger hunts, a craft, and other activities all about pollinators. No pre-registration required, this event is open to all ages. 

Animal Investigators (TACO)

Friday, September 30th from 2-3 pm

Grab your magnifying glass and help solve the many mysteries along the Old Beech Nature Trail. Who left the pile of acorns by the rotten log? Whose scat is that? Use your senses and detective skills to answer these questions and more on a leisurely walk. This program is for ages 6 and up.

Birding with Vernon

Saturday, October 1st from 8:30-10 am

Join our bird enthusiast, Vernon, for an easy walk while looking and listening for our feathered friends. Discover different types of birds and their habitats. Bring your own binoculars and field guides if you have them. Beginners and experienced birdwatchers are welcome! Ages 8 and up. 

Storytime for Tots & Homeschool/Track-out Programs

Both our Storytime for Tots and Homeschool/Track-out programs for September are full, but there are still some openings for October!

Homeschool/Track-out: Spiders!

Wednesday, October 12th from 10-11 am

Bring your 18 month -5 year old for a story, craft, and spider search, and learn why spiders aren't so scary after all. 

Homeschool/Track-out: Spiders!

Wednesday, October 5th from 1-3 pm

Come learn about our amazing spiders! All children must be registered, parents are welcome to stay or drop off. Open to ages 6-13.

WILD SIDE: Season's End Sunflowers

September brings a popular sight at Lake Crabtree County Park. At the end of summer each year the tickseed sunflowers (Bidens aristosa) bloom and share their beauty with the world for a fleeting few weeks. This usually happens right around the last two weeks of September. These herbaceous annual or biennial flowers are native to North America and are found all throughout North Carolina, but are sparse in the mountains. Some other names for the Tickseed Sunflower are Bearded Beggarticks, Bur Marigold, Swamp Marigold, and Yankee Lice. Many of these names come from the fact that the plant has barbed seeds that tend to cling to you like a tick. This adaptation allows them to be easily transported on animals and people alike. 

Tickseed Sunflowers prefer to grow in full sun, doing well in prairies, pastures and along roadsides. They also have adapted to grow in partial shade near the edges of woodland. They are also commonly planted for landscape beautification. The tickseed sunflowers that grow here at Lake Crabtree County Park are mostly along the border of the floodplain near the lakeshore and alongside the Lake Trail towards Aviation Parkway. 

Beyond their beauty, tickseed sunflowers are very useful for wildlife. Birds and mammals eat the seeds and many species of insects live among the plants and visit the flowers. Right now if you walk along the wall of plants that haven’t even bloomed yet you will find it teeming with life. But watch out, just like real ticks, tickseed sunflowers can also be a nuisance to hikers who have to pick the seeds from their clothes after a walk. So be warned of the beggarticks when you come check them out later this month or you might end up taking some of their seeds home with you!

This month at Lake Crabtree we have some programs that coincide with the tickseed sunflowers blooming. We have two separate “Parks for Pollinators” events happening on September 28th and 30th, where our staff will teach you all about the importance of our local pollinators and how we can work to conserve them. Visit the floodplain by the first parking lot and look for a tent between 10 am and 1 pm on those two days to get involved. We will have activities like a nature scavenger hunt and crafts for kids, and ID sheets and info on how to collect data for the park’s iNaturalist project!

Something Creepy is coming to Lake Crabtree!

We are currently in the planning stage for a mini Creepy Crabtree 2022 event on October 29th. Stay tuned for more details and the signup page, in the meantime prepare your costumes and practice your shrieks!