Trailblazing Unleashed

This week’s trail spotlight covers one of my favorite trails in the Raleigh area, the NCMA’s outdoor museum park!

Earlier this week, Trace and I walked about 2 miles in the North Carolina Museum of Art’s Outdoor Museum Park.

I wanted to highlight this park is one of my favorite accessible trails for three reasons.

1. Paved and Unpaved Trails!

Large sections of the NCMA’s outdoor museum are paved, but many of their side trails are not! The paved trails work well for anyone with mobility aids, including pets and people! These walkways are fairly even, with little cracks or changes in elevation.

There are also large sections of grass and even terrain around the paved sections, which is perfect for Trace! Trace tends to prefer softer terrain rather than asphalt. The nice grass sections next to the sidewalks work really well for us.

In addition to their paved trails, they have many, many, many, unpaved trails. These trails gave Trace and I space to spread out away from others, and even run a bit. Trace is still fairly reactive on a leash (see our article on Tri-pawed training tips for more on this!) so the more removed trails were really perfect for us! He also loves the unpaved sections, and navigating rougher terrain.

2. Useful Maps and Visitor Center!

NCMA’s outdoor park has a beautiful visitor center! There are restrooms and maps available on site. If you have visited many parks in North Carolina, you understand that bathrooms are not always guaranteed. This is a real perk!

There are maps at the entrance to the park, and a several locations throughout the park. These maps are large print, colorful, and overall fairly accessible!

There is also a mobile app. It allows visitors to learn more about the park, its artwork, and the museum itself! There is information about every piece of artwork in the park, in both written and audible format. Here you can find the artist statement, and any other information about the artwork.

3. Central Location and Easy Access

The park itself is amazingly close to Raleigh. There are numerous parking spots, and finding the park is incredibly easy. You should have no trouble getting to the site, and even less trouble getting from the car to the park. When you have a dog that can’t go as far, every step to and from the car counts!

Most importantly for me, all the trails circle back to the parking lot and visitor center!

If your pet is disabled, and anything like Trace, they can get tired easily. Trace only has two speeds. Super crazy fast flying zoomies, and mom I’m so tired I can’t get up. Unfortunately, the switch between these two speeds is often within the span of seconds. No amount of studying dog body language can help you tell when that dog is about to tire, he just suddenly stops. Fortunately, all of the trails in this park circle back to the parking lot fairly quickly! That way, whenever Trace decides that he is done for the day, its a short trip back to the car.

Then we have a short car ride back to our apartment, and he can rest until he zooms again.

Thanks for tuning in to our monthly trail highlight! Feel free to submit your favorite trail for our next adventure.

Trailblaze on!

— Kaya, Skully, and Trace