LAKES CLOSING
OWASA lakes (University Lake and Cane Creek) in Chapel Hill close for the season Oct. 31. Until then UL is open Fri-Sun and CC Fri-Sat 6:30-6. Fees are charged. Lakes offer boat rentals including kayaks, fishing, picnicking.
Starting Oct. 29, Cane Creek is open Wednesday-only 7 to 11 a.m. for birding. Free. The reservoir is home to 200+ species.
Durham city lakes Michie and Little River remain closed.
BIRDS OF PREY
Friends of the Lower Haw SNA has two upcoming programs of interest.
Oct. 17, Birds of Prey guided hike on Great Trails State Day led by naturalist Jason Brown, 10 a.m., Bynum Mill Access, Pittsboro.
Nov. 11, Build and Test A Toy Boat made from recycled materials with State Parks educator Sean Higgins, 10 a.m., Bynum Mill Access, Pittsboro. Programs are free and don’t require registration.
NATUREFEST
N.C. Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, holds NatureFest for kids under 12 Saturday, Oct. 17, 1-4, with hands-on outdoor activities that highlight the wonders of nature in N.C.
CANOE/KAYAK LAUNCH
Kings Highway Park, Hillsborough, was closed for a day earlier in the month for the installation of a new floating canoe and kayak launch to replace the one damaged during Tropical Storm Chantal in July 2025.
The park is an 18-acre natural area on Ben Johnson Road at the edge of the Hillsborough Extraterritorial Jurisdiction. It is owned and maintained by the town. Over the past few years, volunteers have built trails, bridges and a kiosk. KHP has almost 1 mile of nature trails.
LEAVE THE LEAVES
This fall, consider leaving your leaves where they fall. They can create fertile soil, support local wildlife and improve water quality. You don’t need to post a sign. In your yard.
TROUT STOCKING
The NCWRC will wait until November to stock Delayed Harvest Trout Waters. Impacts from an unusually hot summer, coupled with the ongoing drought conditions and damage from Hurricane Helene, have caused lethally high-water temperatures flowing into the state’s mountain trout hatcheries, thus reducing the number of available fish to stock.
“It’s been a brutal summer for these cold-water fish,” said NCWRC’s State Fish Production Supervisor David Deaton. “The water temperatures coming into our hatchery were at times, in the mid-to-high 70s. Trout cannot survive that temperature. They get stressed, become susceptible to disease and many die.”