Greenville and Eastern NC Outdoor Recreation Ideas

Published Jul 01, 2023 by
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Public Parks:

Wildwood Park is a brand-new park in town! It’s located at 3450 Blue Heron Drive, just a 10-minute drive from campus. If you just want to go and visit, the park has several walking trails as well as a lake to enjoy. The park also hosts various programs and activities. A couple of upcoming events are The Swamp Stomp on July 22nd at 9 a.m. and The Morning Kayak Tour on August 5th at 9 a.m. Both events will be an hour and a half long and have a small fee to participate with a discount for Greenville residents. For more information, check out the link below:

Town Common is probably the most popular park in the area. It offers a walking trail that goes along a lovely stretch of the river and is a convenient access point to the Greenville Greenway.

  • Every Sunday through July, Town Common will host Sundays in the Park with food trucks from 5-9 p.m. and live music starting at 6:30 p.m.
  • Town Common also hosts Bites on the Bridge on July 20 and September 14 at 5-8:30 p.m. These events will also include food trucks and live music, but also has a beer garden!
  • The Market at the Town Common is an event that just started this year as an effort to help local vendors reach the community. It happens once a month May through August, the next two dates will be July 12 and August 23 and the market is open from 5-8 p.m.

Sunday in the Park flyer  Bites on the Bridge flyer

River Park North offers a walking trail, boat rentals, and fishing. This is a great park if you want to do any bird watching or any other type of nature observing as the walking trail weaves around forested swamps along the Tar River.

  • A bird club meets here on the first Monday of every month at 7:30pm for various activities including guest speakers, local sightings, fieldtrips, and organized bird counts. For more information on the River Park North Bird Club, call 252-329-4577.
  • On August 19th, River Park North will be holding a Bug Hunt event from 9-10:30 a.m. There is a $7 fee to participate and preregistration is required. Preregister here and for more information call 252-329-4560 or email awimsatt@greenvillenc.gov.

Goose Creek State Park is a great State Park for hiking, swimming, fishing, and camping. It’s located 34 miles southeast of Greenville at 2190 Camp Leach Road in Washington, NC. There are no fees for day use at the park and information about camping fees can be found on the Goose Creek State Park website.

Trail Networks:

  • Phil Carroll Nature Preserve Trail
  • Bicycle Post Trail: Walking, running, or mountain biking trail
  • Otter Creek Natural Area: Open to ECU students and employees for recreational and research opportunities
  • The Greenville Greenway is a paved trail that is 9 miles long and is great for running, walking, or biking. It’s at a convenient location, going along the Tar River for a portion with one terminus at Thomas Foreman Park and the other at Evans Park near J.H. Rose High School. The trail goes through several parks including Town Common, an off-leash dog park, Green Springs Park, and Elm Street Park, which all provide public parking and other recreation opportunities.

Greenville Greenway Map

Other Facilities:

  • ECU North Rec Complex: Eight multipurpose activity fields, fishing and boating (free kayaks), walking trails, disc golf course, and more.
  • NC Museum of Natural Sciences:
    • The Greenville location is also known as A Time for Science and is located at 729 Dickinson Avenue. This museum is best known for its fun and educational exhibits and is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
    • The Contentnea Creek Location is at 949 Contentnea Lane in Grifton, NC. It includes Bray Hollow Conservancy, open from sunrise to sunset, Chia-yu Planetarium, which is currently available for small groups of up to 10 people, and the Kitty and Max Joyner Observatory, which is open to the public from August to May. Email for more information about Contentnea Creek.
  • Sylvan Heights Bird Park is an avian conservation center with over 2,000 exotic birds from around the world. You can find it at 500 Sylvan Heights Park Way in Scotland Neck, NC. Price of admission is $14 per adult and it’s open Tuesday through Sunday 9 a.m.-5p.m. through the spring and summer but closes at 4 p.m. in the fall and winter. The Sylvan Park website recommends that you give yourself at least two hours to enjoy the park. There’s an area called The Landing Zone where you can feed certain species of birds and if you make a reservation on their website, they offer guided tours.
  • The North Carolina Estuarium is located in Washington, NC and is open 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday with the last time for entry at 3:30 p.m. There’s a $5 admission fee to see the exhibits which range from artistic displays to informative and educational ones. There is also a free boat tour along the Pamlico River, but you do need to call ahead to reserve a spot. The tours happen at 10 a.m. and noon Wednesday through Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturdays. These boat tours will be available through October 28th this year.
    Sign for North Carolina Estuarium. Where the rivers meet the sea.