Triangle Land Conservancy: Backyard Adventure - Milling About in Orange County

Milling About in Orange County

We are pleased to offer Milling About in Orange County as our inaugural adventure. In conjunction with Take a Child Outside Week (September 24-30), we encourage you to take your favorite kid(s) to TLC's Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, stop by Allen & Son Bar-B-Que for lunch, and end the day with ice cream at Maple View Farm. Or start with ice cream and hike off the sugar rush at Johnston Mill. Your choice. So, pack up the kids, put a couple gallons of gas in the tank and come explore the Triangle with TLC's Backyard Adventures!

The Details

Start your day off with a refreshing hike through Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, home to a large expanse of mixed hardwood forest and two miles of New Hope Creek. Go ahead and splash in the creek, skip rocks, and climb on the sycamore root ball that tangles above the water. Keep your eye out for numerous animals making their homes in the preserve, including birds, butterflies and frogs. Two hiking trails wind through Johnston Mill Nature Preserve: Robin's Trail and Bluff Trail. Robin's Trail, a 1.5 mile trail, parallels New Hope Creek and runs between the two parking areas. The 1-mile Bluff Trail loops through a mature hardwood forest.More information about Johnston Mill Nature Preserve, including a preserve guide, can be found here.

After enjoying Johnston Mill, it's a short drive to Allen & Son for a cool drink and some of the best barbeque in the Triangle. Finish your adventure by rocking on the porch at Maple View Ice Cream with your favorite flavor. Absorb the view of the rolling hills and Maple View Farm (protected forever with a TLC conservation easement), and watch the cows that make the milk for your ice cream.

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Endorsements

Allen & Son "Now it is one of the few individual restaurants in a crowded area; but glory be, it’s hardly changed at all. Same old cinderblock walls, same plastic tablecloth … and the same authoritative North Carolina style Q, meaning velvety pieces of hickory-smoked pork." Michael Stern, Road Food dot com "This is barbecue that's unlike anything else you'll experience in NC. Pure hickory coals burned down from seasoned wood are scattered periodically beneath the roasting shoulders that give the meat a dark, hard-edged robust flavor without making it overly smoky." "After experiencing the products of Allen's talent once, a patron is likely to do anything to return." Bob Garner, Bob Garner's Guide to North Carolina Barbecue

Maple View Farm "I've always been super-picky about my ice cream. The best place I've found in the Triangle area is Maple View Farm. Who can resist the pastoral view you gaze upon as you sit on an old-time rocking chair, working your way through a dee-licious cup of ice cream?" Ron W. of Raleigh on Yelp.com

Directions

Getting to Johnston Mill Nature Preserve

Johnston Mill offers two parking areas/preserve entrances, one on Turkey Farm Road and one on Mt. Sinai Road.

To the Mt. Sinai Road parking area

From Chapel Hill: Go north on NC 86 (N Columbia / Airport Rd). Cross over I-40 and continue north for about 1.8 miles. Turn right on Mount Sinai Rd. and continue about 1.1 miles. The parking area is on the right just before the New Hope Creek bridge.

From Durham/Raleigh: Take I-40 west to exit 266. Turn right on NC 86 and proceed north for about 1.8 miles. Turn right on Mount Sinai Rd. and continue about 1.1 miles. The parking area is on the right just before the New Hope Creek bridge.

From Chatham/Lee: Take US 15-501 north to Chapel Hill. When 15-501 exits, continue straight on NC 86 (S. Columbia St.). Go through the UNC-Chapel Hill campus and downtown Chapel Hill. Cross Franklin St., S. Columbia becomes N. Columbia, then after 2-3 blocks N. Columbia becomes Airport Rd. Continue north on Airport Rd. / NC 86. Cross over I-40 and continue north for about 1.8 miles. Turn right on Mount Sinai Rd. and continue about 1.1 miles. The parking area is on the right just before the New Hope Creek bridge.

To the Turkey Farm Road parking area

From Chapel Hill: Go north on NC 86 (N Columbia / Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (formerly Airport Rd). Cross over I-40 and turn right at the first traffic signal onto Whitfield Road. Follow about 0.9 miles then turn left on Turkey Farm Road. Follow about 1.25 miles to the Johnston Mill Nature Preserve parking area on the left, just before coming to New Hope Creek. This parking lot only holds about four cars. When the lot is full, please park on the same side of the road as the parking lot.

From Durham/Raleigh: Take I-40 west to exit 266. Turn right on NC 86 (north), then turn right at the first traffic signal onto Whitfield Road. Follow about 0.9 miles then turn left on Turkey Farm Road. Follow about 1.25 miles to the Johnston Mill Nature Preserve parking area on the left, just before coming to New Hope Creek. This parking lot only holds about four cars. When the lot is full, please park on the same side of the road as the parking lot.

From Chatham/Lee: Take US 15-501 north to Chapel Hill. When 15-501 exits, continue straight on NC 86 (S. Columbia St.). Go through the UNC-Chapel Hill campus and downtown Chapel Hill. Cross Franklin St., S. Columbia becomes N. Columbia, then after 2-3 blocks N. Columbia becomes Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd (formerly Airport Rd.). Continue north on MLK Blvd/NC 86. Cross over I-40 and turn right at the first traffic signal onto Whitfield Road. Follow about 0.9 miles then turn left on Turkey Farm Road. Follow about 1.25 miles to the Johnston Mill Nature Preserve parking area on the left, just before coming to New Hope Creek. This parking lot only holds about four cars. When the lot is full, please park on the same side of the road as the parking lot.

Getting to Allen & Son Bar-B-Que from Johnston Mill

From the Mt. Sinai Rd entrance...	Exit the parking area turning left on Mt. Sinai Rd and follow 1.1 miles to NC 86. Cross NC 86 onto Millhouse Rd -- Allen & Son is on the left at the corner of NC 86 and Millhouse Road. Parking is in front of the restaurant on the left, or across Millhouse Rd on the right. (Total distance: 1.1 miles)
From the Turkey Farm Rd entrance...	Exit the parking area turning left on Turkey Farm Rd and follow 0.7 miles to Mt. Sinai Rd. Turn left on Mt. Sinai Rd and follow 1.8 miles to NC 86. Cross NC 86 onto Millhouse Rd -- Allen & Son is on the left at the corner of NC 86 and Millhouse Road. Parking is in front of the restaurant on the left, or across Millhouse Rd on the right. (Total distance: 2.5 miles)

Getting to Maple View Ice Cream from Allen & Son Bar-B-Que

Turn left on NC 86 (north) and follow 2.0 miles to New Hope Church Rd (traffic signal). Turn left on New Hope Church Rd and follow 2.2. miles to Old NC 86. Go straight across Old NC 86 onto Arthur Minnis Rd and follow 1.9 miles to Rocky Ridge Rd. Turn left on Rocky Ridge Rd and follow 1.0 miles. Maple View Ice Cream is on the left, just before the intersection with Dairyland Rd.
(Total distance: 7.1 miles)

Adventures
Click below to find information about each of our Backyard Adventures

Milling About in Orange County
(September 2008)

Paddles and Battles
(October 2008)

Agriculture Empires
(November 2008)

All Aboard for White Pines & Studio Finds
(December 2008)

Lower Haw and Animal Paws
(January 2009)

Rocky River Romance
(February 2009)

Swift Creek Skateaway
(March 2009)

U-Pick Raleigh
(April 2009)

Flowers and Farm Life
(May 2009)

Juneteenth
(June 2009)

Harmony on the Haw
(July 2009)

Birds, Blooms and Baseball
(August 2009)

Be sure to sign up for TLC E-News to learn about new itineraries as they become available.

Also, check out Places to Visit to see other options for adventure in the Triangle.