Urban Hike in Charlotte, NC: Little Sugar Creek Greenway

Wanting to spend time in the city, but still enjoy the outdoors in the beautiful, sunny Charlotte, North Carolina weather, we opted for some urban hiking while visiting family during our Southeast trip last December.

The Little Sugar Creek Greenway when completely finished will be a system of over 19 miles of paved trails for walking, jogging, cycling and plenty of other outdoor recreation.  We opted to begin our journey in Uptown just south of Thompson Park and meandered along until we reached the edge of Freedom park, which according to my loose calculations gave us a grand total of about 3.5 miles.

Charlotte is proud of their newly developed “linear park”, as well they should be.  The system not only connects landmarks, parks and other physical attractions, more importantly it connects people and creates community.

Along the way we were able to explore art, take in the city skyline, and interact with the the restored creek that runs along side the trail.  Up until a little over 10 years ago, the waterway was extremely polluted, and mostly covered by the concrete of parking garages and buildings.  Waste was being dumped right into the water creating unsafe conditions and no place for wildlife to flourish.

Now thanks to the extensive work and rehabilitation, the natural world of fish, birds, and native plants have returned and are thriving.

Do you ever go urban hiking? Tell us about some of natural areas in the cities you know and love.

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