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The Clayton Riverwalk is a paved, 10-foot-wide, four-mile route along the tree-lined Neuse River in the Town of Clayton, about 20 miles southeast of Raleigh. It is part of the greater Neuse River Trail, which continues past the northern end of the trail to the eastern outskirts of Raleigh for nearly 30 miles.
About the Route
The northern end of the trail is a dead end, where the Neuse River Greenway Trail continues north, unmarked. The nearest trail access point is either north on the Neuse River Greenway Trail along the Mial Plantation Rd. or south on the Clayton Riverwalk along Covered Bridge Rd.
The trail largely follows the Neuse River through a largely rural corridor with only a few access points along the way. To access the town of Clayton, trail users can continue along the Sam's Branch Greenway.
Connections
The Clayton Riverwalk is part of the longer Neuse River Trail.
At the southern end of the trail, it connects to Sam's Branch Greenway.
The Clayton Riverwalk is part of the developing East Coast Greenway, a 3,000-mile route between Florida and Maine.
The Clayton Riverwalk runs between Neuse River Trail (Wake-Johnston County Line) and Sam's Branch Greenway (Clayton).
Parking is available at:
See TrailLink Map for all parking options and detailed directions.
My husband & I recently moved to NC. This trail is only 5.7 miles from our new home. It was our first trail we went on in NC. 11/25/2023. Once there, you can go left or right. We went to the right side today riding our bikes. Will ride the left side next weekend. We would say it's easy to moderate. Just a couple of hills, a lot of bridges, several benches along the way, open fields, pull outs to take photos, very shaded etc. It wasn't too crowded, everyone we encountered was friendly. We even seen a huge buck! & a couple other deers. Also seen a lot of squirrels & birds. If you enjoy nature on a very nice paved path this is a wonderful place we will return too. I’m sure if we were walking we would have seen a lot more wildlife. It took us 30 minutes to get to the HWY where we turned around just casually riding our bikes. If you’re pushing it I would say it could be completed in 20 min or so riding fast. We will try that later. Put this trail on your list to visit. You won’t be disappointed! Love! Love! Love!
We moved here from NY and found this within 10 minutes of our new place. My son is in a wheelchair so parking, hills , trail quality are all important. The path from the parking lot is short but steep. It’s a good push up it after you’ve walked. The trail goes to the right or left. The left is scenic and easy. Beautiful bridges. The right starts with small hills. It’s still very nice but we’ll probably stick with the left side. Quite but we’ll used. Very nice friendly encounters with walkers, joggers and some kind of electric skateboarders. These seem very popular here in NC.
This is my favorite trail because it connects to so many others. You meander along the Neuse River, while enjoying transitions into open fields, woodlands, and some boulder areas. It’s medium and difficulty with some uphill travel, which is always treated with a downhill ride. However it is mostly flat. Too many great spots for photo shoots to share!
This is a nice, paved, level trail.
There are a couple small hills for a challenge.
The numerous bridges, the little creeks and the river make for nice scenary.
So, as always. If in the area and want to get a couple miles in, give this trail a try. I think you'll enjoy it.
We accessed the Clayton River Walk from the Sam's Branch Greenway as we continued on to the Neuse River Trail. This well maintained greenway just continued on and on! We made good use of some of the many trailside benches for our breaks. The little bridges that crossed over the many small streams were great.
Being as it was a Sunday there were not many other trail users, but the ones we did encounter were pleasant and polite.
My family went on a bike ride and it was well maintained and had lots of nice scenery...beautiful area
My girlfriend and I decided to try out the Clayton River Walk Trails(along with Sam's Branch).
The scenery is breathtaking and the trails are extremely well maintained.
A definite Thumbs Up and a place I sincerely look forward to returning to many times this Summer.
This trail is great for walking your dog families or biking. Lost of places to stop and take in the scenery and lots of nice people.
In the greenway system of the Raleigh area this ranks as the best. It is scenic, it is diverse. It is well maintained.
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