I finally got around to finding Brookhaven Nature Park, which is truly hidden away in one of Raleigh’s oldest suburban subdivisions. Come to find out Scott Reston’s excellent new blog, Get to Know a Park, covered the spot in July with a nice pictorial post. With a respectful nod to Scott, here is my own quick take on the park.
It’s hard to find! The entrance is located is off Rembert Road, off Glenwood. Brookhaven was begun in 1958 and contains many fairly regal residences with large yards and woodlots surrounding the numerous small waterways. Scott mentions that the park is maintained by the Junior Woman’s Club of Raleigh, and the few reviews I find online describe it as decidedly low-key as a nature adventure. But the small pond with a nifty zig-zag deck and the additional decks over wetland area make it a perfectly lovely site, in my humble opinion. I had fun snapping shots of the heron.
pond at Brookhaven Park
heron at pond's edge
Great Blue Heron at Brookhaven Nature Park
wetland deck at Brookhaven
The post at Get To Know a Park has some nice photos (and an excellent map!). It’s good to have some friendly, high quality competition in providing online coverage of Raleigh’s natural amenities. Those features are more valuable and unique than most people realize. Brookhaven Nature Park established that tradition well before the greenway system was begun.
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Bonus Shot
This hawk was being harassed by crows.
The Raleigh Naturalist 
Thanks for the post. I grew up in this park (actually in a house nearby, but I spent a lot of time there). It used to be effectively about twice as large as it is now, due to old grown up farm property adjacent to the park. A lot of those woods have now been developed (you likely saw and heard the old folks home behind the pond). The pond used to be much nicer as well. Full of fish. As kids, we left fishing line and hooks hidden near the park to fish with. Right off the dock you could see dozens of small sunfish, and if you were lucky, you might see a bass go after a few. The pond is suffering now from a nice algae bloom, and the last time I was there had several domestic ducks living in it. It be nice to see some of the vegetation and all of the exotic birds removed. Could be a really nice pond again. Thanks again.
Comment by Ernie — September 17, 2009 @ 6:58 pm