16. Lake Wheeler
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (919) 662-5704
Address: 6404 Lake Wheeler Rd.
Description: Lake Wheeler is a secondary water source for Raleigh. The 650-acre lake is open to motorized and non-motor boats but not jet skis. The recreation area is 4½ miles west of I-40 in Wake County. Jon boats, canoes, and pedal boats are available for rent.
17. Little River Lake
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: Like Lake Michie, Little River Lake supplies water for the city of Durham. It is on Orange Factory Road off Roxboro Road, about 10 miles from downtown. The 550-acre lake is open to fishermen but only boats rented by the Durham Parks and Recreation Department are allowed. Rowboats and electric motor boats are available to rent at the park. Little River Lake is open mid-March through mid-November, Friday through Sunday. Call the Little River Lake Boathouse at the number above for more information.
18. University Lake
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (919) 942-8007
Description: Just west of Carrboro, University Lake is a 213-acre body of water open late March through early November. Boating is limited to canoes, kayaks, rowboats, and boats with electric motors only. The lake is stocked with bass, crappie, catfish, bluegills, and sunfish. The recreation area is on University Lake Road south of Jones Ferry Road. If you cross the lake on Jones Ferry Road, you’ve missed the turn. Boats and motors are available for rent. UNC built the lake in 1932 as a reservoir for the school and towns.
19. Eno River
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: Flowing through Orange and Durham counties, the Eno ranges from a quiet flatwater to churning class-three rapids pushing through a maze of rocks. Just 40 miles long, the Eno is extremely popular with kayakers and canoeists in the Triangle. Close to Durham and Raleigh, it offers a quick fix for paddlers and a chance to spot mountain laurel and rhododendrons on the banks as well as beavers or otters swimming past. Before it joins the Flat and Little rivers, the Eno flows just north of downtown Durham, past several historic mill sites and through Eno River State Park and West Point on the Eno city park. The state park has backcountry campsites and excellent spots to fish for bluegill, largemouth bass, and crappie. But on any sunny day, you’ll find company in colorful boats.
20. Haw River
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: The Haw forms the southwest border of Orange County and flows through Chatham County to Jordan Lake. Eventually, the Haw joins the Deep River to form the Cape Fear, which flows to North Carolina’s coast. But the stretch through northern Chatham County, just south of Chapel Hill, makes for some of the most exciting paddling in the Triangle. The upper section at State Road 1545, aka Chicken Bridge Road, starts a nice run for novices with only a few tricky rapids, one of them ominously named Final Solution. This run ends at the dam at U.S. 15-501. But the lower Haw just above Jordan Lake is the most popular as the fall line creates numerous rapids. These waves can grow huge and dangerous at high water for inexperienced paddlers, earning the Haw its reputation as the area’s top challenge.
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
22. Duke University Golf Club
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (919) 490-0999
Address: 3001 Cameron Blvd. at Science Dr.
Description: Set beside the stately Washington Duke Inn on the Duke campus, this course is a reviewer’s darling. Renowned designer Robert Trent Jones laid the course out in 1957, and his son Reese revamped it in 1994. It hosted the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship in 2001. The course is a 6,868-yard, par 72. Practice facilities include a driving range, putting and chipping greens, sand bunkers, and a target green. After the links, you can choose from fine dining at the Fairview Dining Room or more casual fare at the clubby Bull Durham bar in the Washington Duke Inn. Green fees are $30 to $100.
23. Hedingham Golf Club
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (919) 250-3030
Address: 4801 Harbour Town Dr.
Description: Along the banks of the Neuse River in northeast Raleigh, Hedingham makes beautiful use of its riverside terrain with tight fairways and quick greens. Course architect David Postlethwait put water hazards on eight holes of this 6,609-yard, par-71 course. Hedingham is semiprivate. Green fees range from $20 to $42. Instructors offer lessons and clinics.
24. Unc Finley
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: The University of North Carolina’s golf course is open to the public and offers reduced rates for students, faculty, and alumni. The Tom Fazio–designed course is 6,231 yards and par 72, and offers challenges for golfers of differing abilities. Facilities include a driving range, putting green, pro shop, and a snack bar. Green fees are $35 to $62.
25. Lifestyle Family Fitness
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (919) 755-1706
Description: Lifestyle is a Florida-based chain that offers only month-by-month memberships. That feature and some of the best class instructors in the Triangle make its four locations very popular. Each has cardiovascular and strength-training equipment, cycling studios, personal trainers, and tanning booths. Children play in the supervised Kids Club, with playground equipment and video games.
26. O2
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: 2046 Renaissance Park Place, C
Description: O2 is a local chain of shiny, hip facilities accented with stylish touches like droplights and dramatic walls of glass. Its five Triangle locations are pretty places to work up a sweat. Each has more than 100 cardio machines, strength machines, and saunas and offers between 40 and 50 classes per week. Child care is provided.
27. Ymcas
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Description: Some of the most up-to-date workout centers with the most innovative classes in the Triangle are YMCAs. The YMCA of the Triangle has three fitness centers in Raleigh, three in Durham, one in Cary, one in Holly Springs, and one in Wake Forest. The Chapel Hill–Carrboro YMCA chapter includes two fitness centers in Chapel Hill. The Chatham YMCA’s center is in Pittsboro. Their class instructors are highly regarded and most of the facilities are new or recently renovated.
28. Blue Lotus
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (919) 831-2583
Address: 401 N. W. St.
Description: Blue Lotus’s new downtown space was built with an emphasis on energy efficiency and environmental consciousness evident in details like the cork flooring in the practice room and the soy candles. Classes include vinyasa or “low flow” yoga, flow and stretch, juicy flow, trance, and foundations of yoga. The studio also hosts touring yogis and community workshops.
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Address: 2512 Hillsborough St.
30. Amf
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (919) 832-3747
Address: 1827 Capital Blvd.
Description: The national chain has four locations in the Triangle where bowlers can roll on scores of lanes. For those who like bowling in the dark, the alley turns down the lights and pumps up the music for Xtreme Bowling at night. AMF sponsors teams and leagues, offering bowlers a range of competitive and casual group opportunities. Groups are available for children, teens and adults of all ages. Frequent specials include all-you-can-eat pizza and bowling for $14.99 per person.