Raven Rock State Park
Raven Rock State Park is the 36th Park in our 2025 North Carolina State Park Challenge. It is 40 miles southwest of Raleigh and features hiking trails as well as water activities along the Cape Fear River. The park has hiking, biking, and bridle trails as well as camping for tents, RV/trailers and even cabins. This is a popular park for a reason, the location and large array of activities means there is something for everyone!
We started after afternoon on the namesake trail Raven Rock Loop Trail- a 2.6 mile loop that takes you out to an overlook as well as the 150 foot namesake crystalline structure. This is the most popular trail in the park- so on a Saturday afternoon it was quite busy. Initially, we skipped the overlook because it was quite busy, with plans to return after we stopped at Raven Rock. Half a mile past the overlook you’ll reach the stairs down to the rock structure. It’s probably about 5 flights of narrow wooden stairs- so make sure yourself (and dog) are okay going down and back up. I did see a couple people on the trail with strollers and I'm not quite sure what they did because this would not have been easy to carry a stroller down- one area was a single person width. Once down the stairs, I was really happy with how easy it was to get some privacy- the rock spanned quite a distance along the Cape Fear River and therefore everyone spaced out to various areas. After spending some time down by the rock, we backtracked to the overlook (which was still busy). The overlook it a smaller area right off the trail (without any stairs), so it seems like its always busy. We waited our turn to take a picture then continued on our hike back the way we came on the Raven Rock Loop Trail.
Backtracking along this path also allowed us to add on the Fish Traps Trail (which was 1.2 miles total). It took us out to the Cape Fear River where the remains of a dam are. The river and rocks along with the fall trees was a a gorgeous view. After sitting and enjoying the sounds of the running water for a bit we headed back towards our car. Because it is now November the park (like many other State Parks) closes at 6pm. If I felt like we had enough time we would have hiked the Campbell Creek Loop Trail- which is a 4.5 mile loop that takes you out to Lanier Falls. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like we had enough time before the park closed, so we’ll add this to our list for the next time we visit!
The parking right near the Visitor Center fills up very quickly, but there is plenty of overflow parking. We ended up parking in the gravel lot furthest away from the Visitor Center (but it also happened to be the lot closest to the start of the Raven Rock Loop). Also from all the overflow lots there is a walking path back to the Visitor Center- it’s not far (I would say maybe 1/4 of a mile). We walked up to the Visitor Center hoping there would be a dog parking spot- but unfortunately did not find one. With the parking filling up so quickly, I think this would be a great park to add a dog parking spot- especially around back of the Visitor Center where there’s some shade and it isn’t quite as busy. We did luck out and found a parking spot right in front of the Visitor Center- so I was able to get our passport stamp and patch before heading out. Enjoy!
Park Details:
ADDRESS: 3009 Raven Rock Road, Lillington NC 27546
HOURS: November-February: 7am-6pm
March-April & September-October: 7am-8pm
May-August: 7am-9pm
VISITOR CENTER: Open Daily 8am-5pm
PASSPORT STAMP: At the Visitor Center
ENTRANCE FEE: No Entrance Fee
TRAILS: 38 miles of hiking trails
ACTIVITIES: Hiking, Biking, Horseback Riding, Paddling, & Fishing
DOG RULES: Dogs are not allowed in park buildings and must be on a leash no longer than 6 feet. Please pick up after your pet!
Check out our videos about this Park on instagram @axel.theadventurepup
