Birding spots · North Carolina

Best Birding Spots in Wake County, North Carolina

Wake County Open Space - Lake Crabtree County Park leads Wake County's birding spots with 200 species reported, best in fall. 107 spots in the county have enough data to rank.

Species counts are birds reported at least three times in that season at that spot, 2016–2025. Busy spots list more species simply because more people look, so compare the checklist counts. Spot names come from public map data and hotspot listings.

Spot	Species	Checklists	Winter	Spring	Summer	Fall
Wake County Open Space - Lake Crabtree County Park	200	4,170	104	164	90	169
Wake County Open Space - Crabtree Creek Mitigation Project	189	2,512	94	150	100	144
NC State University Farm Pond Number Two	180	5,397	100	152	97	139
Crabtree Creek Hare Snipe Creek	180	3,708	83	138	86	154
Carl Alwin Schenck Memorial Forest	175	1,918	92	151	92	142
North Carolina State University Agricultural Research Land	173	6,639	99	141	95	139
City of Raleigh Open Space - Lake Wheeler	173	1,826	84	106	102	141
Wake County Open Space - Crabtree Creek Mitigation Project (Haleys Branch)	171	2,210	92	121	88	142
City of Raleigh Greenway - Middle Crabtree Creek Trail	160	2,060	82	144	87	119
City of Raleigh Open Space - Lake Johnson Metro Park	157	3,102	84	140	77	103
North Carolina State University Agricultural Research Land (Tysonville)	156	3,219	84	127	85	128
Town of Cary Open Space - Fred G. Bond Metro Park	151	1,565	80	124	74	122
Town of Holly Springs Open Space - Bass Lake Retreat Center	148	1,135	77	125	78	120
William B. Umstead State Park	148	968	80	116	67	118
City of Raleigh Open Space - Shelley Lake	145	1,367	82	118	77	104
City of Raleigh Open Space - Lake Benson	145	960	94	118	67	108
Centennial Campus Open Space	143	963	84	126	62	94
Wake County Game Lands	139	878	70	117	80	79
City of Raleigh Greenway - Neuse River Greenway	139	543	66	133	78	92
NR Abbott's Creek	136	1,825	75	118	70	100
Town of Apex Open Space - Apex Community Park	135	1,073	86	106	67	101
City of Raleigh Open Space - Durant Nature Park	133	920	66	115	69	99
Wake County Open Space - Harris Lake County Park	130	795	70	107	79	89
Town of Cary Open Space - Future Park	130	551	63	118	54	82
City of Raleigh Open Space - Anderson Point Park	126	250	56	102	61	98
Wake County Open Space - Crabtree Creek Mitigation Project (Kings Pond)	122	767	79	82	42	98
City of Raleigh Open Space - Horseshoe Park	120	478	70	104	76	89
E. Carroll Joyner Park	117	334	55	88	63	98
Triangle Land Conservancy Preserve (Shotwell)	117	314	72	76	53	93
Town of Garner Open Space - White Deer Park	116	524	57	104	58	76
Town of Cary - White Oak Creek Greenway	112	508	59	101	72	70
City of Raleigh Open Space - Dorothea Dix Hospital Land	111	1,006	62	88	71	44
Harris Game Land	111	170	54	88	64	49
Koka Booth Amphitheatre	110	480	68	90	54	74
Swift Creek Bluffs	106	462	46	92	31	80
Umstead Park Lower Lake	106	236	49	88	52	64
Wake County Greenway - American Tobacco Trail	106	232	59	86	67	71
Falls Lake State Recreation Area (Little Beaverdam Creek)	106	204	65	47	43	58
Reedy Creek Trail	103	497	60	80	62	81
Spring Valley Lake	102	77	50	58	40	27
City of Raleigh Open Space - Lake Wheeler (east)	101	231	63	54	53	53
City of Raleigh Open Space - Anne L.Wilkerson MD Nature Preserve	98	425	49	83	61	65
Town of Cary Open Space - Harold D Ritter Park	98	377	54	89	50	44
William B. Umstead State Park (Reedy Creek)	98	139	53	74	55	58
Honeycutt Creek	94	203	47	71	52	68
Town of Cary - White Oak Creek Greenway (Jack Branch)	94	179	52	75	65	62
NC State University Farm Pond Number Two (northeast)	92	417	51	71	45	50
Wake County Open Space	92	270	48	81	56	53
Town of Apex - Beaver Creek Greenway	91	128	37	80	35	39
Hazelwood	89	916	57	72	46	66