More than 12 miles of singletrack at Lake Crabtree County Park (LCCP) are set to close to the public on June 1, 2025. The trails will be destroyed to make way for an entertainment development.
LCCP is the most popular mountain bike trail system in the Research Triangle region and ranks as the fifth most popular trail system in North Carolina, according to Trailforks data. The area is home to 2 million residents, and riders travel from across the region to ride at LCCP.
“When you look at both popularity and accessibility in terms of how centrally located it is, I think it’s easy to say that [Lake Crabtree and the 286 trails are] the most used” in the Triangle area, said Dave Anderson, a spokesperson for the non-profit Triangle Off-Road Cyclists (TORC).
The entertainment development and subsequent trail destruction at Lake Crabtree has been triggered by the expiration of Wake County’s lease of the land for just $1 per year from the Raleigh-Durham (RDU) Airport Authority. The airport’s mandate, as set forth in a series of guidelines codified by the FAA in 1999, is to lease the land for no less than fair market value (FMV). In addition, “the Airport Authority says Federal Aviation Administration regulations prevent it from selling the property to Wake County for use as a park,” according to an article on WUNC.org.
Despite what the RDU Airport Authority claims, a legal analysis shows the lands could still be leased for use as a park
The crux of the issue is the change from a $1-per-year lease for the county park to RDUAA’s mandate to receive fair market value for the 136-acre parcel of land.
“We asked the question: if RDUAA wanted to continue leasing the whole park to Wake County for less than FMV, could they do so?” wrote TORC.
To answer the question, they hired Cranfill Sumner LLP to conduct a legal analysis. “The conclusion from Cranfill Sumner is yes, the County could continue leasing all of LCCP, perhaps even designate it for ‘permanent preservation.’ We shared this with RDUAA and the County Commissioners in late January,” wrote TORC.
Coordinated opposition to the trail closure has failed
In late January, the Raleigh-Durham (RDU) Airport Authority Board heard public comments on the proposed land lease. The hearing “featured more than 40 speakers, all of whom lambasted the proposed development,” according to WUNC.
TORC and other advocates also coordinated opposition at another public comment on May 19, 2025.
Singletracks published an article in January that concluded by exhorting local mountain bikers to make their voices heard. Despite opposition from mountain bikers, trail runners, and hikers, and the legal analysis provided by TORC, the park is still set to close to the public on June 1st.
Trail users are rallying to protest the park’s closure
On May 31st, trail users of all types — from mountain bikers to trail runners and hikers — will be hitting the trails at Lake Crabtree for one last hurrah, and to protest the trail closure.
“Let’s pack the trails,” wrote TORC on their website. “This started out as, ‘hey let’s do a (likely) final group ride at Lake Crabtree.’ But we’ve seen an outpouring from many groups that want to show their support for saving Lake Crabtree Park. So, we figured let’s do a huge gathering on the field, show our support for Wake County Parks, and do a group ride /run/hike.”
While TORC, Wake County Parks, and other local advocates will continue to strive for a better resolution, the future of Lake Crabtree Park looks bleak.
3 Comments
1 hour ago
Make touching that property so expensive and so frustrating no one will want to do anything with it.
19 hours ago
22 hours ago