Occoneechee Mountain State Mountain Area
Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area is the 27th Park in our 2025 North Carolina State Park Challenge. It’s located in Hillsborough, NC, 15 miles northwest of Durham. It is close to Eno River State Park and they even share a visitor center! Occoneechee Mountain State Rec Area reopened recently after closing down for a couple of weeks due to flooding in the Eno River. As of right now, Eno River State Park is still majority closed (only the Historic Occoneechee Speedway is open), which also means the Visitor Center for this park is closed. So, if you are planning on going, just know you’ll have to get your passport stamp another time once the Eno River State Park opens.
We took the most direct route up to the overlook to take in the views, then continued on to our hike. We followed the Chestnut Oak Trail from the back of the parking lot to Overlook Trail. The views were gorgeous and this is the only place you’ll get these type of “mountain” views in the Raleigh/Durham area. If you are taking the Mountain Loop Trail (which is the longest trail in the park) the direction you go will really decide your activity level. Going clockwise will give you a steep incline and multiple sets of steps heading up to the overlook, while going counter-clock wise will give you a decline down those steps. You will still get a workout either direction as you’ll walk down by the Eno River and back up to the parking area.
There are only 3 miles of hiking trails in the park, but they are all interconnecting so it is easy to get in any length of hike you want. We ended up hiking about 4 miles by going up the Chestnut Oak Trail and back around the Mountain Loop Trail then around the Fishing Ponds before back to the parking lot. Once you get down by the Eno River you will still notice a lot of debris near the water and the murky brown color of the river. Even though the park is open, it is still easy to see the effects of the flooding and can easily image what the Eno River State Park is dealing with in order to try to reopen.
There are two small fishing ponds at the front of the park, just before the parking lot. This is an also a great spot to sit down on one of the benches or have a picnic! This park is an easy place to really enjoy the fall color changes with minimal effort to view points. Enjoy!
Park Details:
ADDRESS: 625 Virginia Cates Road, Hillsborough NC 27279
HOURS: November- February: 8am-6pm
March-September & September-October: 8am-8pm
May-August: 8am-9pm
VISITOR CENTER: Shared with Eno River State Park
PASSPORT STAMP: Located at the Eno River State Park Visitor Center
ENTRANCE FEE: No Entrance Fee
TRAILS: 3 miles of hiking trail
ACTIVITIES: Hiking & Fishing
DOG RULES: Dogs are not allowed in park buildings or on swim beaches. Please pick up after your pet!
Check out our videos about this Park on instagram @axel.theadventurepup
