Strange Trail of Art Objects in Raleigh, NC

You start on one of Raleigh Greenway System's famous trails. Being greenway trails, you expect to see trails that are either paved or unpaved.

You expect to see trees. In fact, trees and grass are what define greenways in most places.

You expect to follow meandering streams, unless they have been turned into boring straightened waterways with no character, as sometimes happens in cities.

Being city greenways, you hope to hear bird calls unmixed with the sound of engines and noisy restaurants.

Hoping that your expectations will be met, you start at Meredith College and take the greenway that goes around its border. On the greenway, you experience trees, green lawns, students diligently reading, birds chirping and some muffled noise from autos on Hillsborough Street. Not perfect, but a good start on a long stroll along the greenway.

As you complete the first third mile or so, you find yourself along a stretch that is removed from traffic. Here, the birds chirp louder, and you even see a rabbit munching quietly. Ah! Life on the greenway couldn't get better.

On the right, you pass some strange poles with painting on them. Each sits quietly in the woods with a ceramic thing on the top. Surely these are the signs of some past tribe of Meredith students leaving its mark in the woods.

It is quiet as you pass the pine grove and continue on the truly green greenway.

The paved trail leads out of the woods, where you see an athletic field intrude ever so slightly on the quiet trail. The path leads down and away from civilization.

As you walk across the pedestrian bridge, the noise of I440 surrounds you as you walk over the highway with its rubbish-filled median. The signs of civilization tear through the quiet as you hurry across the bridge hoping for some relief from the noise and grime.

As quickly as you are thrust into the center of civilization, you are returned to the bliss of nature. You are now on the section of Reedy Creek now as the Museum Park Trails.

You quickly descend into a beautiful forest maintained by the N.C. Museum of Art. If you are a dedicated hiker, you may pass through these trails with a minimum of impact. You may not even notice the distractions they have placed to slow your travels.

If you are an art lover, you may notice a misshapen metal object that might be construed to be a bench. I love art but I really wish they had wood workers design the benches. The bench is creative, though a bit uncomfortable should you need to rest.
This is the first object from the unnatural world of art. As an artist, I like their looks. As a lover of nature, I wish they had placed these off the main trail.

If you take the orange trail to the right you will avoid most of the art objects.

When you stay left, you will pass a large tree on the left where a raccoon might be seen at dusk peeking out of a large tree. This is art at its best.

Further down the trail there is a piece of art that is massive. I don't know how to explain such pieces. I guess you either get the point of it or miss it completely.

In the wood behind this piece of art is a Cloud Chamber. This, I get. On a sunny day sitting in the camera (Cloud Chamber) you get an awesome experience. First darkness, and then light puts on a show; particularly on partly cloudy and windy days.

For the dedicated hiker, these side trails are a real distraction.

Along the trail you next see a spire of stone. If the sun is right it glows. Behind it is the trail to the aforementioned Cloud Chamber.

Next you may come upon a building. I can't explain the building but it is there. There is nothing in it but a couple of benches. If you are architecturally inclined it may have meaning for you.

There is much more to be seen before you get to the next piece of the trail, which is a city sidewalk that leads you for about a half mile until you reach real greenway again. For the next two to fourteen miles you can enjoy nature without artificial distractions.

Because the art museum is also restoring natural areas, they are creating more natural plant and animal habitat than the parts they are using for large art projects. Some days I prefer the places where art surprises, confuses and just gets me thinking.

When I am after a place where it's just me and the natural world, the Raleigh Greenway System offers a world of places to meet that need.