Last weekend, I discovered a new park. This weekend, I rediscovered a park that, somehow, had flown off the radar.

Every couple of weeks, usually on a Saturday, Marcy and I pick a direction and drive. Whatever we discover along the way is what we do for the day. Yesterday, our compass pointed west.

“There’s a park out here I scouted for the book,” I said as we headed out I-40. And by “out here,” I meant Alamance County. South, it seemed, of Burlington. Maybe not to far from the Haw River? Through that Ouija board of the confused traveler (Google) we were able to determine the park in question was Cedarock Park. We were also able to get a better fix on where in this 435-square-mile county Cedarock Park was. Once there, since I was with my wife, we made a beeline for the visitor center for — Hey, look over there! Canoe rentals! — direction.

“We rent the boats daily, for $5 an hour,” Paige Fuqua, who was manning the center, told us. What was especially cool was that these boats, unlike most part boat rentals, weren’t on a lake, they were on a creek with minimal current. Paddle downstream to the Old Mill Dam, Fuqua told us, paddle upstream “to about the campground, maybe farther if the water’s up.” About a mile of paddling.

Paddling and hiking (the 2.5 miles I scouted for the book)  and camping. As Fuqua was about to explain, there was a lot more to do in this 414-acre park.

• 1.7-mile mountain bike trail, rated “Difficult.”
• 4.7-mile equestrian trail, which Fuqua said wasn’t closed to mountain biking, but wasn’t recommended for it, either. (Which lead me to believe it could be a lot of fun.)
• Not one but two disc golf courses: an 18-hole course in the open (Cedarock), another regulation course in the woods (Wellspring). The park, Fuqua said, holds a number of disc golf tournaments throughout the year.

• 

  2.5 miles of hiking trail (aforementioned, but worth repeating).

• Canoe rentals (again).
• Fishing on a half-acre pond.
• Open fields for creative play.
• Playgrounds.
• Basketball court (ourdoor).
• Volleyball (sand pit).

The perfect sampler park, I thought. Paddle for an hour, hike for an hour, mountain bike for an hour, play a round of disc golf for — That’s when a potential problem emerged: Not enough hours in a day to put Cedarock Park through a thorough test.

Good thing they have a campground.

Cedarock Park
Hours: Opens daily at 8 a.m., closes at 7 p.m. March and October, 8 p.m. April and September, 9 p.m. May-August, 6 p.m. November-February.
Events: Go here.
More info: 336.570.6759, or here.
To get there: Go here.