Walnut Creek Wetlands

Walnut Creek Watershed

Walnut Creek is a tributary in the Neuse River watershed. It flows from the Walnut Street area in Cary, crosses the beltline near the intersection of I-440 and Highway 64 and flows through south Raleigh just north of I-440. As the creek meanders through the city it nestles into the area between Hammond Road and the eastern beltline to form an urban wetland that supports a coastal wetland habitat. Walnut Creek crosses I-440 on the east just north of the Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek. It joins the Neuse a few miles east of the pavilion.

Aerial Photographs of Walnut Creek (Winter 2001)

Aerial Photograph of Walnut Creek Wetland

Walnut Creek and its urban wetland are valuable natural resources that need care and protection. Normally Walnut Creek is a "lazy" urban creek. With heavy rains it floods, especially in the wetland. Development along the creek accentuates flooding problems and threatens the water quality of the creek, the wetland, and the Neuse. Proposed development in Southeast Raleigh must be carefully monitored to protect the health of the wetland environment. Members of the community, university partners, schools are working together to seek solutions to reverse the damage caused by years of neglect and abuse of the wetland. They seek to restore and preserve this invaluable resource.

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