Falls Lake Trail Section 15 Hike

Section 15 of the Falls Lake Trail is 4.4 miles from Jimmy Rogers Road to Cheek Road in Durham County.  As an out-and-back hike, it's 8.8 miles round trip or half that for a shuttle hike.

Length: 4.4 miles (shuttle)/8.8 miles (out and back)
Estimated Time: 2 to 3 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
Location: Butner-Falls of Neuse Game Land
Trail Users: Hiking only
Dogs: Must be on a leash
Features: Lakes, Creeks, Forest, 
Crowds: High
Warnings: Part of the trail passes through game land where hunting is permitted.  Wear blaze orange during hunting season.
Trailhead GPS: 36.01323,-78.77771 (Jimmy Rogers Road) / 36.04301,-78.76050 (Cheek Road)

Directions:

Section 15 trailhead is on Jimmy Rogers Road and Little Rogers Road.  From Durham, head east on NC-98 for 4.1 miles past US-70 and turn left on Patterson Road.  Drive 2.7 miles and turn right on Jimmy Rogers Road.  Turn right and go 0.4 miles to a right hand curve in the road at Little Rogers Road.  Park in the curve.

To arrange a shuttle, head north on Little Rogers Road for 1.1 miles and turn right on Cheek Road.  Drive 2.1 miles and pull off on the right side of the road just before the bridge over Falls Lake.

Map:

In the following map, the hike is shown in pink.

Click here for an interactive map of the entire Falls Lake Trail.

Hike Description:

The trailhead is at the east end of Jimmy Rogers Road, where it turns left to become Little Rogers Road.  There is limited parking here at the intersection.  A short blue-blazed spur trail leads to the main trail.  Turn left where continuing straight leads to the boardwalk and Little Lick Creek Bridge for section 14.  See Section 14 Hike for more description.  Section 15 leads along the shoreline and past a small farm pond.  At 1.7 miles, just after crossing a dirt road, a side path signed "The Rock" turns right and leads out to a nice view of the lake.

In about 2.3 miles, the trail turns left and crosses another old road.  Pay attention to blazes and trail stakes to avoid getting off trail.

At around 3 miles, the trail approaches power lines running across the lake.  After passing through the clearing, you'll climb up to an open field that the power lines run through and skirt the perimeter of the field.

There are nice views of the lake from here.

The last mile of the trail is in the woods along the lake shore.  Around 4 miles, the trail passes by some old artifact, maybe part of some farm equipment.

This section ends at 4.4 miles at Cheek Road.  Section 16 starts across the road.  See Section 16 & 17 Hike for more description.  If you shuttled, your car will be here.  Otherwise, turn around and go back the way you came.

Blog Entries:

05-Feb-2017: Prescribed Burn at Falls Lake

External Links:

Mountains-to-Sea Trail website: https://mountainstoseatrail.org/the-trail/segments/falls-lake-day-hikes/fallslake-dayhike-13/