THE HILLSBOROUGH RIVER
A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY
| The trip you are about to take begins at 56th street and contionues more than 15 miles upstream, taking you past Lettuce Lake Park, Trout Creek Park, Nature's Classroom, and Morris Bridge Park. The following photos represent a greater distance than could be covered in a single trip and reflect several different trips from different starting points. | |
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The starting place is just beyond 56th street, and that bridge you see in the far distance is the 56th street bridge. We will be paddling upstream, headed against the current. |
| This is a view of the 56th stret bridge, which can be seen in the far distance of the previous picture. The river is widest here, most likely owing to the dam at 40 street. The river will become increasingly narrow as we move upstream. |  |
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There are many small islands along the center of this part of the river. This picture is taken looking back towards the 56th street bridge. If you look carefully, you can see it in the remote distance. The sign reads "slow down - minimum wake." |
| That large tree and sign are the same as in the previous picture. The 56th street bridge is barely visible in the distance. Shortly the river will turn, and we will lose sight of it. |  |
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There is a gradual narrowing beginning at this point. Although the water has appeard blue in most of the photographs due to reflection of the sky, the water is actually black. |
| Ahead, the river turns sharply to the left. On the right, the bypass canal connects to the river. Many homes have docks along this part of the river. |  |
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This is the next major landmark, the Bullard Parkway Bridge, located approximately 3 miles from the 56th street bridge. We were forced to turn around here during the first trip. Subsequent trips were made starting further upstream. |
| This portion of the river runs through a residential area. A power corridor provided a place to stop and have lunch. Perhaps not an ideal place to stop, it was at least dry land. If you look closely, you can see the power lines going over the river. |  |
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The next major lanmark is the Fowler Avenue bridge, followed by the Fletcher Avenue bridge, which is shown here. Just beyond the bridge is Lettuce Lake Park. Construction along the river is forbidden beyond this point, and the character of the river chages dramatically. |
| Past Lettuce Lake, the river appreciably narrows. There is a long series of turns before the next maor stopping point, which is Trout Creek Park. There is dam at this point, but I have never seen it closed. The top used to be fenced up, but since then they have opened it up and you can walk across from one side of the river to the other. |  |
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This is a vew of the river in the vicinity of the boardwalk at Trout Creek Park |
| Beyond the boardwalk and Trout Creek Park, the river becomes clogged with hyacenths, leaving only a narrow opening in the water. |  |
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Not much further upstream is Nature's Classroom, which seems to be a popular hangout for birds. |
| Beyond this point the river narrow to hardly a stream. Navigation become more difficult, sometimes involving detours around fallen trees. Here there is dead silence. There are no cars in the distance and no planes flying overhead. You get the feeling of truly being in the wilderness. Contrast this picture to the ones taken in the vicinity of 56th street. Still further upstream, the surrounding land becomes swampy with no dry land on either side. |  |
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Although it is a long haul, you will eventually reach Morris Bridge Park. |
| Not far beyond Morris Bridge you see the remains of some train tracks. The last time I went through this area, they had further deteriorated and may not be present much longer. Nevertheless they represent an interesting piece of history. Where did they go? How were they used? |  |
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There is much wildlife along this portion of the river. Here is a family of tutrles enjoying the sun. The water through this portion of the river is very shallow, and was full of tadpoles and small fish. |
| The next park upstream is Sargeant Park. Not far from there we encountered a sign stating that further portions of the river were being managed as a wilderness experience. This ultimately proved to be the end of the line. After navigating numerous fallen trees, we were eventually forced to stop. |  |
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Take a moment to reflect upon our jurney. We have traveled more than
tewnty miles of the Hillsborough river and have passed more than four state
parks. We have watched the river change from a wide expanse of choppy water
to something more closely resembling a peaceful stream.
While this may be the end of our journey, this is certainly not the end of the Hillsborough river. It continues on, passing though Hillsbroough River State and Crystal Springs Park even further upstream. |
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Album This page last updated April 18, 2003 For questions or comments contact mark.mcclure@uncp.edu |
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