Eno River State Park, located in Durham, North Carolina, offers hiking trails, paddling, fishing, picnicking, and camping. There are five access areas along Eno River, each with their own activities and amenities.
There are 30 miles of hiking trails ranging from 0.5 to 4 miles. It also includes part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail across North Carolina.
Fews Ford area is named after the Few brothers who established a mill here in 1758. Below are the trails I hiked on my visit and the sights I found. I call it my hike of little discoveries!
Buckquarter Creek Trail
This moderate 1.5-mile loop is blazed with red circles. It starts at the Piper-Cox House/Museum parking lot, but you can take a spur trail down from the park office.
Eno River is a swift, shallow stream which flows over 30 miles before becoming part of the Neuse River. It was named after the Eno or Enoke tribe who once lived along the river.
Buckquarter starts along the river, before climbing a set of wooden steps.
A five-lined skink and an American giant millipede climbed over moss and rocks.
Then the path wandered between hundreds of yellow flowers. Bees buzzed by while collecting pollen.
Just before the loop midpoint, a wooden footbridge crosses the creek and connects this trail to the Holden Mill Trail.
Holden Mill Trail
Holden Mill is a 2.6-mile double loop. Yellow circles mark this moderate-to-strenuous route.
From the footbridge, I suggest turning left and following the river first. I didn’t and it was a straight uphill climb, making the trail more strenuous than it needed to be.
My route took me up into the woods. Squirrels bounced across the forest floor.
Then the path headed downhill again. Five-lined skinks peered from behind tree trunks. A small Fowler’s toad hopped among the leaves on the ground.
As I hit Eno River again, the smaller loop to the mill broke off to my right. Here the path is flat and then covered in roots. Little fence lizards played hide-and-seek with my camera. An American toad caught my eye in the grass by the water.
A great blue heron calmly walked through the water stalking its food.
Farther in the water a family of longnose gar kept pace with the current.
Holden Mill
Holden Mill was a flour and corn mill built in 1811. The stone mill grew to handle cotton, oil, wool, and lumber. It became the largest in the valley with 300 acres of land. After switching ownership a few times, it ceased operation in 1893. A 1908 flood destroyed much of the mill.
The remains standing today still have a sense of awe and history.
Main Holden Mill Trail
I turned back on the main Holden Mill Trail and followed Eno River back to the footbridge. Rock outcrops fill this area of the river. You can carefully make your way out onto them for a different view or a break.
This section also has some challenging areas – climbing up and over boulders to continue the trail.
My final little discoveries of the trip included more small fence lizards, an eastern tailed-blue butterfly, and dozens of bluehead chub in the water.
Deep blue Asiatic dayflowers were in bloom when I visited in September. Then I was back at the footbridge over the creek.
Buckquarter Creek Trail
After crossing the bridge, I turned left to finish the Buckquarter Creek Trail. Then, I passed a spur trail to the group camps.
Shortly after that spur trail is another spur trail to the left. This leads to the historic Cole homestead. It was so quiet and calm here off the main trail. Carolina chickadees, eastern wood-pewees, and tufted titmice sang in the sunlight.
The last part of this trail is on a high ridge before it descends into a ravine and climbs dozens of stairs back up.
The moral of my day in Fews Ford is to always start a loop along the water 😊
I highly recommend this state park! I will be back to explore other areas in the future. Have you visited before? What was your favorite part?