Annie Louise Wilkerson, MD Nature Preserve Park

Navigate to 5229 Awls Haven Drive and use one of the preserve's designated parking lots. Dog-waste dispensers are provided in both lots. Start near the Education Center when you need staff, exhibits, loaner equipment, or the comfort station; use the park map before choosing a loop from the other access area.

First-time visitors should begin at the Welcome and Education Center off Awls Haven Drive. Staff can answer nature and route questions while the park is open, and the building contains hands-on children's displays, live animals, monthly crafts, a Nature Library, and the loaner-equipment desk.

Yes. The preserve lists a comfort station with restrooms and a water fountain. Use it before beginning a natural-surface loop, especially with young children, because the trails pass through forest, field, pond, and rock-outcrop habitat rather than additional staffed facilities.

The preserve opens at 10 a.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday and is closed Monday. Closing follows a published dusk schedule: 5:30 p.m. January, 6 p.m. February, 6:30/7:30 p.m. March, 8 p.m. April, 8:30 p.m. May-July, 8 p.m. August, 7:30 p.m. September, 7/6:30 p.m. October, 6:30/5:30 p.m. November, and 5 p.m. December.

Yes. General admission, trails, exhibits, live-animal viewing, monthly nature crafts, nature play, and available loaner equipment are free. Some scheduled programs charge. The picnic shelter is limited to eligible nature-education or conservation groups and is listed at $15 per hour with a two-hour minimum.

The mostly flat Overflow Loop and Overflow-to-Office Connector can form an approximately 0.45-mile route through the east field and pine forest. Other loops are natural surface and may include roots, rocks, grades, or wet areas. The Education Center, comfort station, and developed walkways offer the most predictable access; contact the park for route-specific conditions.

Five loop choices serve different interests: Epps Forest is 0.65 mile through old oak-hickory woods; Hidden Rocks is 0.81 mile past rock outcrops; Pond Loop is 0.54 mile around the beaver pond; Prairie Loop is 0.31 mile around the west field; and the Overflow route can make a mostly flat 0.45-mile loop.

There are nature-play areas and borrowable outdoor play kits rather than a conventional swing-and-slide playground. The Welcome Center lends a Woodland Village backpack, sandbox kit, kites, binoculars, explorer and art backpacks, and other items that encourage open-ended play and observation.

Yes, but they must remain leashed, under control, and on designated trails. Pick up waste using the dispensers in both parking lots. The rules emphasize that off-trail pets can disturb rare plants, nesting birds, turtles, rabbits, and other wildlife and can encounter ticks or copperheads.

No. Bicycles are not allowed on the preserve's trails. The park is managed primarily for nature education, conservation research, wildlife habitat, and walking. Choose a Raleigh greenway or a park with designated mountain-bike trails for a cycling visit.

No. Fishing in the preserve's pond is prohibited. The one-acre pond and active beaver dams are wildlife and education features; observe them from the Pond Loop and leave plants, animals, rocks, fungi, and artifacts where they are.

The Welcome Center offers free first-come loaners including explorer, Woodland Village, and art backpacks; a sandbox kit; binoculars; kites; and other nature-play items. Ask staff what is available that day and return equipment before the preserve's changing dusk closing time.