Day Hike C: Dead End of Possum Track Road to Possum Track Road
Possum Track Travels
Distance: 3.0 miles
- Difficulty: Moderate.
- Camping: No.
- Land managers: N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Note: Some or all of this trail is on game lands and hunting is allowed. Learn about local hunting seasons here.
- Volunteer Task Force Leader: Jeff Brewer, jdbrewer104@gmail.com.
- Piggyback trail: Falls Lake Trail, a/k/a South Shore Trail.
- Connecting trails: Assorted neighborhood trails trickling upslope and fishing trails headed toward the lake.
- Falls Lake MST Section No.: 3.
- Trailhead/Access: Possum Track Road. Click on map below for specifics.
A common sight at most Falls Lake trailheads.
There’s parking for 4 to 5 cars at the trailhead, where a paved spur off Possum Track Road, which led somewhere before Falls Lake was dug more than 30 years ago, dead ends. The trail quickly falls into an up-and-down rhythm, with neither severe. A black chain-link fence upslope is your companion for a quarter mile or so, a reminder of the civilized world not far beyond. The tread is generally smooth, interrupted by occasional outbursts of dark granite. Occasionally, the trail piggybacks on old roadbed that served this once agricultural area of Wake County.
The section is a mix of maturing hardwoods and pine. It’s also a particularly popular section for dogs, it seems, not all of whom are attached to their two-footed companions.
Geology Highlights: The bedrock of this area has been folded into a large arch called the Raleigh anticline. The rocks near the west end of this trail section lie close to the top of the arch, so their foliation (layering) is gently inclined.
For detailed hiking directions and parking information, download the Segment 10 guide from our Trail Guides page, using the “Primary Trailheads” section to pinpoint the location. You can also visualize the route on our interactive map.
